WEEDS CAN TURN INTO FLOWERS
by 01Trycia-chan01
Summary: Trisha is your ordinary girl with your average, slightly dysfunctional family. Follow her as she moves to Japan, meets a few interesting people and deals with a youkai stalker hell-bent on getting her blood while solving general life, familial and romantic issues. Can weeds really become beautiful flowers? Perhaps with a touch of our favorite kitsune, they can... M for Safety
1. Japan

-WEEDS CAN TURN INTO FLOWERS-

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything that is already entitled to someone or something. I don't own Yu Yu hakusho, Samsung, Rosetta Stone or any other patented thing that is obviously not mine.

CHAPTER 1

-This takes place about two years after the Demon Tournament. I'm going to say that Kurama is starting his second year of High School at this point. Yusuke's not in the picture (yet [because he left to stay in demon world,]) and everything has pretty much kind of calmed down so far. So just go with it please: =] and of course enjoy!-

Trisha was just an ordinary girl. Yeah, okay, maybe she's been through more than a lot of people in her 17 years of life, but that's what made her the apparently "strong" person she is. However, no amount of strength prepared her for what her adoptive (and incredibly unconcerned and unloving) parents had to tell her when she came home from school one day.

"WHAT! JAPAN!?? W-we're moving to…JAPAN!?" Trisha shouted. Her mother, a beautiful curvy woman with long brown hair tied in a bun, side-swept bangs, sporting elegant glasses and dressed in a sexy, somewhat revealing business suit that was paired with black heels, glared at her.

"Yes. Japan. Pack up. We leave on Friday at 3 in the afternoon." Period. That was all her mother responded with. Blunt. Cold. Unwavering. That was what her stepmother was like. Of course, she wasn't always like that. Trisha was adopted when she was just 3 years old. When she was five her stepmother and stepfather were able to give birth to a beautiful little girl they named Alyssa. Of course, Alyssa landed a job as an infantile model for baby food labels and packaging and whatnot and Trisha's family became rich and her parents' business boomed. Soon her stepmother and stepfather worked in an office building supporting and helping commercial and movie producers. After that, Alyssa became the little shining, and unbelievably spoiled star of the family and Trisha was neglected, ignored and pushed aside. It was pretty rough at times. They'd even go as far as compare her to her younger sister and make her feel bad about herself. Sometimes they'd insult her and even embarrass her in front of many people. To put it bluntly: It sucked. And right now, it wasn't getting any better. Trisha stared at her mother with a shocked expression and an open mouth.

"But after I finally got everything in order…and after I finally have a solid set of friends _and_ a boyfriend…you're going to send me…TO FREAKIN' JAPAN!?!?!?!?!?" She snapped.

"I don't want to hear it. It's for your sister's career. If you want things your way maybe you should put yourself to use and audition for a movie or maybe try to be a fashion designer or maybe even a model…then again nevermind. You have to be pretty for that sort of thing. Maybe you should start training as your sister's manager. No one ever looks at the manager."

Pain. Ouch. It hurt to hear that from someone who was so lost in "the industry". Trisha nodded, not bothering to throw an insult back at the cold woman and walked to her room and shut the door. She smiled a bit. The violet and black color scheme had a calming effect on her. She glanced at herself in the mirror. Maybe she was fat? Was that it? She stepped on a scale that stood in the corner of her room. It read back to her in big, bold, red letters: 120.

Her weight hadn't changed and for a girl at 5'7" that wasn't too bad. She went back to the mirror. Her hair was naturally light brown, pin straight, thick, layered and reached just past her shoulder. Maybe she should get extensions? Was it her breast size? No, that couldn't be it. She was pretty much the same size as her stepsister: C36. That definitely wasn't it. Her stepmother, though cruel with her words, wasn't stupid or hypocritical.

Maybe it was the way she dressed: Dark-wash straight-leg jeans, low-top converse and a purple tank top that brought out the blue-green hue to her eyes. Yep, that had to be it. Her mother hated her apparently "plain" sense of style and pale skin. Over and over she heard it from all three of her family members: "Go tanning." "Dress like Alyssa. She's always in style." She sighed.

If she went tanning her skin would burn and she'd get skin cancer and then she'd be dead because they wouldn't care enough to get her proper treatment. If she changed her style she'd probably fall on her face trying to walk in heels and hate herself for changing for three people that she meant nothing to on a daily basis. Luna, her 9-year-old black cat jumped off of her bed and rubbed his body against her legs. He always knew when to make her feel better. Poor thing, she almost wished she hadn't accidentally given him a girl's name, but then again that's what made him special to her. She glared at her image in the mirror.

"Screw what they think. You don't ever think I need to change and that's all I need." She baby-talked to Luna, picking the feline up and hugging him. She sat on the bed, holding her companion and petting his head. She noticed three different-sized suitcases standing against her violet-and-black-striped wall. She set Luna down on the bed, groaned and began to pack.

"How am I going to tell David? No…what am I going to _do _about David!?" She moaned in panic. Should she break up with him? Do long-distance relationship work? She looked at her black, sling-backpack painfully and walked over to where she threw it by her computer desk. She reached for her Samsung gravity in a small pocket at the side of the bag and dialed David's number. It rang once, twice, three times…maybe she'd get out of telling him for now… it rang once more. Nope, of course not. She had to tell him _now_ because he picked up. Maybe she shouldn't have been so brave and dialed his number. Maybe she should've waited to tell him in school tomorrow. Oh well. It's as the saying goes: "Shoulda, coulda, woulda, didn't."

"Hello?" His deep voice sounded through the receiver.

"Um, David?" She responded.

"Hey Trish, what's up? Oh, before you say anything there's an awesome movie coming out on Friday. You wanna go see it with me?" He asked.

"Yeah…about that…"

"You can't make it? What's wrong? Did your step-Nazis ground you for flipping out on Alyssa again?"

"No…it's even worse this time…"

Her boyfriend of two and a half months was dead silent. She took his silence as a signal to continue.

"I'm moving to Japan. I have no choice."

"Oh…wow…that sucks…" He said. She wondered why he didn't seem as upset about it as he should have been. Maybe she was just paranoid. "Well, how about Thursday? Can I see you Thursday?" He asked.

"Sure…"

"All right then. I love you, princess. Talk to you later." Princess. That was his nickname for her. It stemmed from an inside joke when they used to hang out with each other as just friends. She was the princess trapped in the tower by her evil stepmother and he was the prince that came to rescue her (via his beat-up old Honda).

"I love you too. Bye." She responded. She heard a click sound through the receiver and hung up.

"Luna…this is going to suck…I only took Japanese for two years: freshman and sophomore year. Did anyone get me a Rosetta Stone or something? Those things work, right? Speaking of which…" She stood up and waked over to her desk. She checked the drawers and…. Bingo: there sat the square, yellow box that would help her perfect her Japanese. Of course it was a gift from her stepfather. He cared a smidgeon more about her than her stepmother did, thankfully. She sighed, began to pack some of her bags and popped the CD in when she was done. She put on her headphones and listened to what the woman on the CD was explaining.

"Chapter One: The basics"

"_Just….lovely…." _Trisha thought sarcastically.

-Meanwhile in Japan-Meioh Private High School-

Kurama sat in his homeroom class chatting idly with Kaito. Both of the boys had their homework out on their desks and were waiting for their teacher to arrive.

"So guess what." Kaito said, starting a new topic. Kurama cocked an eyebrow and set his novel facedown on the top of his desk. Apparently Kaito was in a talkative mood this morning… Kaito responded to Kurama's reaction with a smirk on his face.

"You're about to have a new addition to your "prestigious" fan club. I heard we're getting a new student on Monday. And it's a girl."

"Oh." Kurama responded. Monday would definitely be tiring. Hopefully the other girls of the school will explain things to her. Hopefully she won't even look at him. "Where did you hear this?" He asked, curiously. Wondering if Kaito found out from a reliable source.

"I was passing by the office today to deliver some papers for Mrs. Namikawa and I heard her talking to the principal. She said there's going to be a new student from America by the name of Trisha that's going to be in our class starting Monday. Last I checked, "Trisha" is a female name." Kaito explained in hushes tones, but it was too late for secrecy now. Some of Kurama's more extreme fans overheard and were beginning to whisper amongst themselves.

"You certainly know how to leak information, Kaito. Perhaps it would be wise not to tell you anything personal." Kurama joked, his lips curved upwards into a small, yet foxy smile. Kaito chuckled a bit.

"If I ever let anything of _that_ nature slip I would most likely be dead within the hour." Kaito "joked" back.

"How right you are…" Kurama "joked" in response. Finally Mrs. Namikawa, a young 25-year-old woman with long black hair and chocolate brown eyes entered the room. Most of the boys in the classroom drooled at the sight of her. She wore a black just-above-the-knee-length pencil skirt, a white blouse (that was missing the top two buttons) and fire engine red peep-toe heels. Of course, Kaito and Kurama were a bit weary of her. She always tried to subtly flirt with Kurama and sometimes gave Kaito "looks" that seemed somewhat…lecherous. She set her red purse and black briefcase down on top of the desk and began to do role-call.

-Friday-

The week passed by quickly. Trisha had said goodbye to all of her friends and promised to stay in touch with them. Her and David decided to stay in a relationship and try the whole long-distance thing anyway. After all, she'd be back in time for summer vacation. She didn't know how exactly the school terms worked in Japan but she'd schedule a time where she could go back to visit her friends. It was spring after all, and summer was just around the corner. She was pretty sure her first term would end towards the end of July and from July to the end of August she'd have summer vacation. It wasn't that bad, right? The only issue is it was April… and she had 3 months until summer vacation would liberate her from the clutches of school. On the plane, Trisha sat next to Alyssa while their parents sat in front of them. Trisha was reviewing all three parts of the Rosetta stone her father gave her on a laptop, while the 15-year-old, long-blonde-haired, brown-eyed Alyssa looked on. She was dressed in a yellow and black plaid skirt, white blouse and black high-heeled Mary Janes.

"What are you using this crap for?" She asked snootily. Trisha eyed her, but didn't turn her head towards her.

"So I could learn the language of the country we're going to be moving to…and staying in." She answered coldly.

"Wow, mom didn't get you a private interpreter? Apparently mine's a super-hot 18-year old!"

"Yeah, that's great. So if you try to pull any moves on him he'll know his place. No one wants to be called a pedophile." Trisha said, yet again, coldly.

"You know, you're such a frigid bitch. No wonder your—

Alyssa stopped mid sentence.

"No wonder my what?"

"…No wonder you're so…unpopular." She finished. Trisha narrowed her eyes. What was this brat up to this time?

"Anyway, yeah. That sucks for you." Alyssa continued. If you look like an idiot your life will end. Your social status will plummet. Your only hope of recovery would be saying we're related. Even though we're not related by blood, of course."

"Alyssa."

"Yes?"

"I'm trying to study. Try to keep your mouth shut. Here, there's like 50 million movies you can choose from on the screen-thingy in front of you. Have fun." Trisha replied, hiding her anger. She hated being dragged along on family trips. Would her real mother do this to her? Then again maybe she would. She was born and raised in an orphanage after all. She wasn't wanted anyway so what would make her biological mother any different from her stepparents?

-Later-

The flight finally ended and the family of four settled into their new home. To their immediate pleasure their furniture had been shipped properly. Trisha let her cat out of his cage. The poor old thing ran straight to use his bathroom in the small, separate room attached to Trisha's bathroom that was meant just for him. The house was fairly sized and very modern. Trisha fell onto her bed and glanced around. Her room looked exactly the same as it did back in America. She pet Luna, who hopped onto her bed and cuddled with her.

"You're a little trooper, you know that?" She said to the ebony feline who purred in response. She got up off of her feet and walked over to her closet. As expected, 6 school uniforms hung on hangars just waiting to be worn and broken in.

"Never in my life have I worn a uniform…ever…" She muttered, not knowing whether or not she liked the idea. Maybe she could customize it… It consisted of a red pleated just-above-the-knee, borderline-mini skirt, a short-sleeved white button-down blouse, a red button-up long-sleeved jacket and a black bow at the neck. Black, low-chunky-heeled May Janes were placed on the very bottom shelf of the closet. She guessed she was going to be wearing those every day too. She really didn't need all the flashy expensive extravagant things.

All she wanted was for someone to care about her. Come to think of it, her boyfriend said "I love you" but not long after that something seemed to bother him. He didn't tell her, and she assumed the problem was with her because at one point he had told her "You're too strong. There's no fragility in your personality". She didn't know how to take that but after that day (which was just two weeks ago) they've been growing distant; so distant in fact that it only hurt her a little bit to leave him. Wasn't love different than that? Wasn't she supposed to cry hysterically like in all of those romance novels and melodramas that Alyssa watched?

And of course her friends were more of acquaintances to her than friends. Maybe they didn't bother to ask if she was okay because she never let it seem like she wasn't. She shrugged. They asked to keep in touch so she would. Maybe they'd respond to her messages.

-Monday-

Trisha dressed in her school uniform, but left the blazer unbuttoned completely. She left the top two buttons of her blouse alone and let her bow hang loosely around her neck, tucked under the collar of the white blouse. She let her hair loose and slipped on a thick, silver bracelet that had silver keys and locks as charms dangling from it. She chose not to wear knee-high socks like her sister did and stepped outside after drinking some orange juice for breakfast.

Alyssa, of course, walked along side of her, happy that she managed to make new friends on Saturday while going shopping. Now that she was secure that she had established good friendships, she wanted to learn Japanese too, so the spoiled girl received a Rosetta Stone as well and had her translator (who was indeed a very good-looking young man) meet her and help her out only in school.

"So, Trish, guess what?" Alyssa devilishly asked on their short trek to the train station. Trisha sighed.

"What do you want from my life?" She asked.

"The girls yesterday mentioned that there's this really, really hot guy at the high school we're going to. There's this geek that's supposedly his best friend. You can have him. As for the hot guy, LAY OFF. Got it? "

"I have a boyfriend. I don't care." Trisha replied.

"Not for looooong…" Alyssa chirped.

"Who are you to be so sure of that?" Trisha responded. Again, the younger sibling was beginning to irk her.

"Long distance relationships never last, you know. Besides it was ending with you and David before we left anyway."

"You brat. Why don't you shut up and stay out of people's business!" Trisha snapped. Alyssa laughed.

"Sorry, I couldn't help but get into it!"

_"She's lucky I'm patient. I would have hit her ten million different times if all the shit I went through hadn't made me who I am…" _Trisha thought as she glared at her cheery stepsister. They got onto the bullet train and walked a couple blocks in silence and finally made it to Meioh High.

"You know, you should really fix up your uniform. I heard Japanese boys like the clean innocent-looking type." Alyssa hinted as she ran inside to meet her interpreter at the office. Trisha sighed. "Yeah well, I heard the voices in my head tell me you're an idiot, but you don't see me acting upon that statement…" She muttered to herself. She took a deep breath and stepped into the school, her brown briefcase in hand. She pulled out a map of the school from her jacket pocket and managed to find the office with relative ease.

"Hello" She greeted in Japanese. Would she sound like a stiff old woman with the type of Japanese she learned? How did the people her age talk? Whatever. She'd just have to work with it for now. The woman at the desk greeted her kindly and asked her for her name.

"Trisha. Trisha Everton." She stated.

"Ah, Everton Trisha, of course. You're the new student. The semester started just a few days ago so you're not too late. I'm sure the _real_ lessons will start today. Here are your textbooks. You'll receive your gym clothes tomorrow.

"Thank you." She responded and took the small books from the kind woman. Thankfully Japanese people didn't believe in big, bulky things. At least that was a plus. She wondered if Alyssa had already been seated. There were three separate offices: one for each grade. She was a second-year and Alyssa was (thankfully) a first-year. She couldn't believe she was just starting as a sophomore. She was close to finishing her junior year back in the US. Maybe it was for the best. Weren't the classes in Japan incredibly difficult or something? She shrugged and met her homeroom teacher at the entrance to her classroom. She greeted her accordingly and mentioned that her name was Mrs. Namikawa, her homeroom/math teacher. Then she looked over her uniform.

"Aren't you going to fix yourself up?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I like wearing it this way."

The teacher sighed. "Well I guess I won't be the only eye-catching one in the class then.

Trisha didn't know if the woman was vain or if she was just joking, but she followed her into the classroom anyway.

"Everyone this is our new student Trisha-san. Please welcome her."

Everyone said "good morning" to her in unison, as if they were trained to do so. She bowed in response and looked at the teacher for further instruction.

"Tell us a bit about yourself."

Damn. She knew something wasn't right when the teacher had let the uniform thing slide. Was she mad that Trisha was probably going to steal the spotlight or something…just because she wore her uniform a bit differently?

"In America I lived in New Jersey." She began, and then blanked out for a second. "I don't really have much to say about myself, actually…" She continued shyly.

"Oh, well…" The teacher began almost as if she was offended. "Then perhaps you will answer some questions our students may have." She finished with a smile that seemed to hide something devious beneath it.

_"Noooooo why won't this wench leave me alone! I'm sorry I stole your spotlight! Jeez do you want me to get on my knees and beg for forgiveness after class or something!?" _Trisha panicked. Luckily her emotions didn't register on her face. She tried her hardest to look calm and collected and prepared for anything. One boy raised his hand and stood up. He wore an all-black uniform (like the other boys) and had short orange hair.

"So what do you usually wear to school in America? Do you wear whatever you want or did you go to a private school?"

"I wore whatever I wanted. I didn't go to a private or Catholic school."

"Catholic schools? You mean like the religious ones!?" The boy responded in a surprised tone of voice.

"Yes. Those schools are usually the ones that make you wear school uniforms." She responded.

"Awesome." He replied and sat down.

_"Please no more questions…please no more questions…please no more questions…" _She prayed, afraid that she might mess her Japanese up. But to her dismay a girl with long brown hair and brown eyes stood up.

"My name is Kyoko. Do you like that really popular boy band the…Jo…Jokas, I think it is, brothers?" She asked. Trisha almost laughed.

"No, but I know who you're talking about. They're popular amongst the younger girls." Well, at least SHE personally didn't hear of any 17-year-old girl liking that boy band. Perhaps it was because she didn't have a broad range of friends?

"Oh and what are the boys like in your country?" Kyoko asked.

"They're…" She didn't know how to say it. "Different. I suppose." She answered pathetically. Kyoko smirked, as if being condescending towards her. "Some are nice, some aren't." Trisha continued, hopefully saving herself. A boy with vibrant, long red hair and green eyes raised his hand and stood up.

"I have no questions as of yet, however, I _was _wondering when exactly we could start our lesson today…" He politely stated, diverting the vengeful teacher's thoughts with a smile.

"Oh, of course, Minamino-kun. I was so wrapped up in our conversation I completely forgot!" She responded "cutely", successfully hiding her ulterior motive. "Please have a seat right next to Kaito, Everton-san." The teacher instructed, stressing Trisha's last name ever so slightly, which made Kyoko smirk…ever so slightly.. "Kaito-kun, please raise your hand." A curly-black-haired guy with freckles raised his hand. Indeed there was an empty desk next to his.

"Thank you." Trisha said to the teacher. She glanced at the redhead; Minamino. Was that his first or last name? She couldn't tell. Of course, the "thank you" was actually directed towards him, but she didn't think he knew. Or maybe he did, she really didn't know. She was sure he slightly smiled in response to her glance. Maybe, just maybe, she just made some sort of an acquaintance. She walked down the isle as Minamino sat down. To her terrible dismay, Kyoko "accidentally" kicked her briefcase in Trisha's way and Trisha slightly tripped. A few chuckles were heard about the room. Yup…there goes her social status…down the drain… Luckily she caught herself on her desk. She glared at the floor, trying not to direct her just-beneath-the-surface anger at Kyoko. She really didn't want to make any enemies.

"S-sorry…" Kyoko apologized, holding back laughter. Trisha nodded, blushed, and continued to her seat. She sat down and took a very slow, yet very deep breath. Mrs. Namikawa began the lesson and she turned her book to the page the teacher instructed to turn to. Trisha glanced over the page. This is what she learned her junior year. Thankfully this all would just be a review to her. At least that was something positive. Even though she sucked at math maybe no one would bug her about it because she was already aware of what was going on. Relief washed over her. But something wasn't making sense… The things that the teacher was talking about were different than the things she was reading in the book…slightly… was it the language barrier that had the things she was hearing and reading all jumbled up? Did she not study enough?

"You're in the easy difficulty…" The boy next to her whispered. He was the one the teacher called Kaito.

"What do you mean?" Trisha whispered back.

"You must've heard the page number wrong." He informed, while pointing to the page on the bottom right-hand corner of his book.

Damn. He had a point. She heard "page 45." Everyone else was turned to page 65. When she turned the page she noticed that it was the same material on the previous page she was turned to, but on a much higher difficulty. Her head spun.

"Thank you." She replied. masking the terrible feeling she had in her chest. He nodded and she paid close attention, taking notes and figuring out the things she didn't understand by using the information she had learned from her last math teacher and filling in any gaps. This was going to be rough…really rough. She could only imagine what the rest of her classes were going to be like.

E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:

Okay so that's the introduction! Yeah it's a little bit slow but it'll pick up a bit later. Anyway, there's more to come soon! Let me know what you think! Reviews? Any? Please?


	2. Truth

WEEDS CAN TURN INTO FLOWERS

DISCLAIMER: I Don't own Yu Yu Hakusho. I also don't own anything patented that appears in this story. So you guys can't sue me. I repeat: I own nothing already owned.

CHAPTER 2

-A few weeks later-

Trisha was bored. Terribly. Her homework was finished (thanks to the little bits of help she received from her stepsister's interpreter) and she was lying in bed. Bored. The girl sighed and decided to go out to town. It was a Saturday, after all. So she changed out of her black and white plaid pajamas and black tank top and into black capris, a white semi low-cut (not low enough to _really _show anything) green t-shirt and black low-top converse. She let her hair fall loosely around her face and slipped on a few black bracelets around her right wrist. She grabbed her black purse, made sure she had money in her yellow and black plaid checkbook wallet and left the house without a word.

She managed to make it to the shopping district and sighed. The boredom didn't stop. She stopped at a small outdoor café and spotted a group of friends chatting with each other happily. Amongst them was Minamino, the boy in her math, science and history classes. All of his friends seemed to be from other schools because they wore different uniforms. A girl with long brown hair and friendly chocolate eyes was dressed in dark green, a tall boy with curly orange hair was dressed in pale green and a girl with blue hair was dressed in blue and white. They all sipped tea and had rice cakes in their hands. Minamino was usually quiet. It was odd to see him so friendly with others. Trisha smiled. At least he was enjoying himself. She decided to leave and went to explore the city she lived in a bit more. She stumbled upon a quiet neighborhood and smiled as she watched two kids playing together on their front lawn.

_"Those two are lucky…" _She thought, having only a few memories of playing with anyone as a kid. The sun began to set beautifully on the horizon and she found herself wandering quiet streets. She found a park and sat down at a bench that was illuminated by a street lamp. She began to sing a song she made up as a kid and fiddled with a small stone on the ground, pushing it back and forth with her foot. Life here sure was lonely. She sighed and kicked the stone into the trunk of a tree nearby. Life here was frustrating as well. She strolled by the jungle gym and saw a cop talking to a couple boys dressed in shabby clothes. She inched forward a bit and gasped audibly when she saw that the cop was buying a small bag of weed from the two boys. She covered her mouth with her hand but it was to no avail, the cop had heard her anyway.

"You! What did you see!?" He shouted angrily. She shook her head and took a step back. He began to run towards her and she spun around and began to run away. She ran back the way she came and realized she had gotten herself a bit lost. The city looked much different at night than it did during the day. Her heart beat a mile a minute as the cop's shouting grew nearer and nearer. Her stomach growled. She was hungry too, oh no…

_"Not now! I'm being chased! Who the hell feels HUNGRY when they're being chased by a cop!?" _She scolded herself and ran faster. She was somewhere in the city when she decided she'd have to hop a fence or two to lose the cop. She turned down an alleyway and saw a bunch of garbage cans shoved into a corner between a tall wooden fence and a brick wall. She second-guessed herself. She had no idea if she was going to make it or not. She didn't know how to parkour. She only saw clips of people hopping over things like this on the Internet. She never once thought it would come in handy one day. She turned her head and saw the cop advancing on her. It was now or never; life or death. She took a deep breath and charged at the trashcans. She sprung off of the ground, managed to land on the trashcans, which were unfortunately plastic and began to bend out of shape. She shrieked, but pushed off the trashcans anyway and found that she successfully sailed over the fence. She heard the now distant sound of the trashcans toppling over.

_"Good luck climbing over the fence, pig!" _She thought with a smirk. When she felt gravity take over she realized she had no idea if she would land safely or not…

"Wh-whooooaaaaaaaahhhh!!!!!!" She shouted as she landed on her feet and hands but fell forward on her side. Her heart continued to beat faster and faster. Was she alive? Was she well? No. She was in pain. She sat up, her hip sore. Her legs and hands were scraped.

"Damn." She cursed. But she didn't have time to power down. That cop could have found another way to the street she was currently on. She stood up on her feet and began to limp away as fast as she could. Her feet hurt terribly and she held her right elbow, which she realized was bleeding as well.

_"This is the last freakin' time I'm going for a walk ever again…" _She thought to herself. _"Now where am I…?" _She tripped on a cracked, slightly raised sidewalk and fell again. She howled in pain as her already scraped hands hit the pavement AGAIN.

"Why me…. Why?" She asked no one in particular. She heard voices and jolted to her feet. She began to limp again, looking behind her in complete paranoia (and seeing nothing), but smashed into something and fell to the pavement yet AGAIN. She looked up at none other than Minamino and his friends. Perfect. Her day was _just perfect_. She put her face in her bloodied hands.

"Trisha?" Minamino asked.

"Yes?" She responded. Her voice was muffled because her hands were still cupped over her face in embarrassment.

"Do you need help?" He asked kindly.

"No. I'm okay. Excuse me." She responded and picked herself up off the ground. She hissed in pain and began to limp away, but he caught her arm. She looked at him.

"Wow you're really messed up. What happened?" Minamino's orange-haired friend asked.

"I was chased by a cop." She responded, looking him straight in the face.

"Oh dear, what did you do?" The blue-haired girl asked.

"I didn't do anything! I swear! I saw him buying drugs from some shabby-looking guys! He saw me, got mad, and ran after me so I ran away." She explained.

"Oh no, that's bad, did he hit you?" The brown-haired girl asked.

"No, no. I managed to hop over a huge fence and lost him, thankfully but I didn't really get to think about my landing and I got pretty messed up when I hit the ground…" She responded.

"Allow me to help you." Minamino offered.

"No, no really. It's okay. I don't want to trouble any of you and—

"THERE YOU ARE!!!!!" She jumped in fear. The cop had found her. Oh no, just her luck.

"Oh crap!" She shouted in English. "Sorry to trouble you!" She apologized to them in Japanese and hissed in pain as she broke into a run. Tears streamed down her cheeks. Maybe she messed her ankle up too. Her whole body ached so badly… Minamino caught up to her and grabbed her hand.

"Hey what are you—

"Try not to worry. My orange-haired friend will take care of the cop. For now, follow me."

"Okay, okay just let go, you rust faster than I do! It hurts!" She shouted, her voice cracking as more pain coursed through her body. He stopped short and she crashed into him again. He picked her up and began to walk calmly towards a destination she knew not of.

"Where are you taking me?"

"To my home. I'll treat you there."

"Treat me?" _"What is he, a doctor? Then again with his sky-rocketing grades I wouldn't be surprised if he secretly was…" _She pondered.

"Maybe I'll be able to determine if you need to be sent to a hospital or not." He explained.

"No! No hospitals!" She shouted in a panic, and then covered her mouth, mortified for the second time that night. "Please…" She said calmly afterwards.

"If you need serious medical attention I'll have to take you, unfortunately. Is there any particular reason you don't like hospitals?"

"Yeah…but right now the main reason is I don't exactly know how the system works here. So I don't know what I would tell them… or if I'd be able to lie about what happened or not…"

"If you'd like I'll go with you. We can tell them you tripped and fell down a steep hill on the way to my house…"

She frowned. Why was he being so nice? No one here was nice to her without an ulterior motive.

"No?" He asked, reading her expression and cocking an eyebrow. She shook her head clear of her suspicions. If he was offering to help her, then why not accept? He never did anything to harm her. In fact, he _did _look out for her on her first day.

"Sure… but only _if _I need to go there. Please don't send me there if I don't need it."

"I wouldn't dream of it." He responded with a smile.

"Thanks, Minamino." She smiled back. He chuckled.

"You can call me Shuichi." He responded.

"So Minamino is your last name…"

"Yes. It's different in your country, isn't it? In school your teachers call you by your first name, usually, don't they?"

"Yeah. But here I've noticed that it's either/or. So it's really confusing sometimes."

"It won't be long before you get used to it."

"I hope so."

He carried her in a calm silence. His pocket began to vibrate. He set her down momentarily and pulled his phone out. He pressed a button and put it to his ear.

"Hello Kuwabara…. yes, she's in my care. I'm on my way home… … …Did you make sure he will not be coming after Trisha again? Well done. Are Botan and Keiko safe? … … …Good. Very well then, I'll meet you tomorrow at the train station. Goodnight…. … …" He pressed a red button, ended the call and stuffed his phone back into his pocket. He began to pick her up yet again but she put her hands on his shoulders. He took the hint and halted his actions.

"You really don't have to. I'm heavy anyway and if we're walking I think I can make it there on my own two feet…" She mentioned, trying to lighten his burden. He smiled and picked her up anyway. She wasn't prepared for his sudden, stubborn act of chivalry and locked her arms around his neck to prevent herself from falling…not like he'd drop her anyway. Embarrassed at the awkward position, she relinquished her hold on him and let her hands rest in her lap. He turned a corner, walked a few blocks, reached a fairly sized home and walked up the steps. There was no car in the driveway. Perhaps they'd be alone so he wouldn't have to explain anything to his parents? They entered a (thankfully) empty house. He carried her up the stairs and placed her on the cover of the toilet seat. She smiled. The green and white color scheme was pleasant to her senses and took her mind off of the burning of her scrapes and cuts. He took out tweezers, Band-Aids, bandages, rubbing alcohol, and peroxide. He looked at her ankle, her legs, her elbow, hands and arms. He assessed that her ankle was cracked, but didn't tell her. If he wanted to treat that injury he'd have to formulate a plan. He'd have to somehow heal it without her realizing what he was doing. She didn't have any spirit awareness did she? All of a sudden she shrieked and pointed at the top of the doorway.

"B-b-b-BEEEEEEEE!" She shouted. As if to curse her, the insect zoomed onto her skin and she became very still. Kurama went to scoop it off of her shoulder but it flew away, zoomed past her ear, made her skin crawl and even worse, made her faint. Kurama caught her just before she fell sideways and shooed the insect out the window. He would've killed it if it hadn't solved his problem for him. He began to heal her cuts, scrapes, and bruises. Then he bandaged her legs and hands and placed Band-Aids where her scrapes were. He laid her down on his bed and waited for her to wake. While he waited he sat on his desk chair and read his novel. About a half hour later she woke up and turned her head to face him. She seemed shocked and gasped audibly. She sat straight up and seemed to be speechless.

"Wh-what happened…oh…right…I'm sorry. And thank you, for this…" She said as she raised her bandaged hands to show him what she meant.

"It was no trouble at all. I rubbed numbing cream into your wounds. It'll help them heal quickly and painlessly. It'll also prevent scars."

"They have this kind of stuff in Japan?"

"Yes." He lied.

"Thank you, really." She said gratefully and stepped out of his bed. "I should get going."

"Would you like to stay for dinner?" He offered.

"No thank you. I don't want you to have to explain why you had a girl in your house in your parents' absence." She laughed nervously. He chuckled in response.

"Good point. Very well then, I'll walk you to the door." She nodded and he did as he said he would.

"I'll see you Monday at school, then…" He stated.

"Definitely. Um, Shuichi, can you tell me how to get home from here?"

"Of course. What street do you live on?"

"7th."

"Hmm…that's actually not very far from here."

"Uh-huh…"

"Walk all the way down this street, turn right, walk all the way down that street, and make a left." He instructed.

"Wow…that's just…wow…" She said speechlessly, unable to believe that they lived so close to each other.. " All right, thank you again."

"Before you go…" He began.

"Yes?" She said, turning back around to face him.

"Would you like me to walk you home? It's late and these streets have a tendency to become dangerous at times."

"I'll be okay. It's not that far." She said. "But thanks anyway." She finished with a smile. He nodded and shut the door when her feet touched the sidewalk. Hopefully she would leave the Band-Aids and such on for at least two days so she wouldn't suspect anything.

-Later that Night-

Trisha made it home safely. She threw herself on her bed and passed out asleep. The next morning she awoke to find the bandages had come undone…and to her somewhat horror and surprise her wounds were completely healed. There were no traces of abrasions at all. Something wasn't right. Okay, Japan was incredibly technologically advanced, but come on…it was like what, 10 hours since the incident occurred? Yes, exactly 10 hours ago Shuichi had fixed her up… something wasn't right…something was up with that guy. There was no way in hell or on earth that simple "numbing cream" would make wounds completely heal like that. She'd have to pay Minamino a visit…and then what? Whatever. She'd think of that when she got there.

She tore off the bandages, took a long shower to relax and dressed in black shorts, a black scoop-neck quarter-sleeve shirt with red sleeves and her signature black converse. She grabbed her black sling-backpack and dumped all of the contents from her purse into it. She took a sip of orange juice, ate a piece of bread, brushed her teeth and was about to leave her house when she remembered she had to check her facebook. She checked her messages and found that her best friend Angelica had written to her. Unfortunately the title of the message was: "=[."

Right before she was going to open it she received an instant message from none other than Angelica.

"Hey, did you get my message?" Her friend asked.

"Yeah just, now but I didn't read it yet, what's up? Is everything all right?"

"With me yeah, with you…no."

"What do you mean?" Uh-oh…this sounded bad…

"Well we all went to a party and David got pressured into drinking by some people and he got pretty jacked up and when we were taking him home he blurted out something none of us wanted to hear…"

"What did he say…?"

"Will you kill the messenger? I don't want you mad at me because I delivered the news…"

"Angie how could I be mad at you for telling me something you think I should know? Did…did he cheat?" Her heart pounded and betrayal picked at the very core of her heart.

"Yeah…"

"Damn! That hurts! With who! ='[ ?"

She began to cry. What the hell. He said he loved her. Then everything got all messed up…why? This again? After everything with her last boyfriend too…

"You're going to hate this part…" Angelica said.

"I don't care, Angie just tell me please."

"-Sigh- He cheated on you with your sister…"

"WHAT!? My sister!? Like you mean the brat in my house? The spoiled commercial bitch!?"

" v.v Yes. I'm sorry. No one wanted you to find out because they assumed the distance would just do the breaking up for you and it would be easier for you two to accept."

"Wow…that's really messed up."

"Yeah, so I'm sorry if it hurts your feelings but I think you should move on. He was a jerk anyway."

"Ugh god…I need a moment…"

"Wait, wait before you get all pissed off… How's Japan so far?"

"It sucks. Yesterday I got chased by a cop that I saw buying weed from two hood rats. The kids in school suck. There's only one nice person I have met these past 2 weeks."

_"And that nice person is definitely hiding something…" _

"Oh well at least you made one friend."

"Whoopee…" Trisha sarcastically replied. "I miss you Angie. Anyway I have a few things I need to get to today, so I'll talk to you later. –Hug- 3 Sayonara!"

"Okay, Trish. Feel better. –Hug- 3 later!"

Trisha closed the little Instant Message window at the bottom right corner of the page. She sighed and grabbed her cell phone and a calling card. She followed the directions the woman on the phone gave and then dialed David's number. He picked up on the second ring.

"Hey honey, how's Japan? I missed you."

"Peachy. How was three weeks ago?" She asked bluntly.

"Three weeks ago? What do you mean three weeks ago? It was great, I got to see you…Why do you sound so agitated…?"

"I don't know, maybe you should ask Alyssa." She replied, pain breaking through in her voice.

"Alyssa…Why would I want to ask Alyssa…?" He said slowly, the guilt in his voice just barely audible.

"Stop playing stupid you turd-covered rectum…" Trisha responded in a threatening tone of voice. No she wouldn't cry in front of this jerk. No way.

"Okay…okay I'm sorry…Jeez, Trish chill out. I fucked her because you wouldn't put out, even after I said, "I love you"."

"Are you freakin' kidding me!? This was about sex!? SEX! Of all the goddamn things! SEX!?"

"Well… yeah… I'm sorry, but I dated you to get to your sister anyway, at least that was my initial plan before your boobs made me think twice…"

"You disgusting waste of life… I hope someone trips you. Maybe if you fall and screw up your face you'll learn some humility and start to respect the women who fall for you. After everything…I can't believe you. I hope guilt makes your soul rot away. Goodbye." She responded and hung up before he could say anything else. She threw her phone against the wall. Even if it didn't survive the collision she wouldn't have cared at the moment. That's when she lost it. She growled, punched a wall, slid to her knees, and pressed her forehead against the cool, black and purple mass she just attacked.

"Alyssa Everton…you're freakin' dead…" She muttered shakily.

Her stepfather and her stepsister burst into her room in response to her audible anger.

"What the hell is going on!? The freakin wall just shook!" Her stepfather shouted angrily.

"Maybe you should ask your precious waste of a daughter! Why didn't you tell dad you screwed my boyfriend Alyssa!? Huh!? Maybe he'd know why I'm so damn pissed off if you did!" Trisha shouted and stood to her feet. Yes that was the perfect revenge, telling daddy that his little princess had willingly and openly let herself be defiled by a boy two years older than her. Perfect.

"Tr-Trisha you jealous pig! How could you say something like that! I didn't do _anything_ like that! Daddy tell her to stop, she's hurting my feelings!" Alyssa shouted and began to fake-cry. This enraged Trisha even more.

"Are. You. Freakin'. JOKING!?" She exploded and lunged at her stepsister. Her hands wrapped around the blonde's throat. Both girls fell to the floor. Trisha's father grabbed her sling-backpack and began to pull with all his strength, trying to rip his stepdaughter off of his daughter. Alyssa tried to fight back, but it was useless. Trisha pulled back her right hand and went to slap her across the face, but WHAM! Her stepfather rammed his foot into her ribs as a final effort to make her stop choking the blonde.

"You accuse my daughter of sexual indecencies, choke her and refuse to release her and try to slap her! How dare you, you insignificant adopted fool! Stay in your room and don't come out until we call you to dinner!" Her father shouted as she rolled over holding her side. Her heart ached now. It ached as much as it could in its shattered state of being and attempted not to waste away. Her boyfriend didn't want her. Her family didn't want her. No one wanted her around. She missed Angie. She wanted to leave and run far away. Maybe she could hop on a boat and go to Europe or something. Whatever. She needed to get out.

Ignoring her stepfather's command she ran out of the house, sling-backpack thankfully still intact. She ran to a nearby park and broke down crying on a wooden bench. Somewhere deep in her heart she did love David to an extent and it hurt to know that every sweet word he said, every gift he gave, every complement she dished out was all fake. It hurt to know she was just a tool to him. She cried her pain out and wiped her tears. Shuichi would have to wait. She needed to be alone.

Passersby stared at her in awe, wondering why she was sobbing. She couldn't take it. She officially hated people. She stood up, wiped her tears and strolled into the slummiest part of the city with a determined look on her face. Maybe she was looking for a fight. Maybe she was looking for someone to put her out of her misery. She had no idea. Whatever, she was there. Someone put a hand on her shoulder. She spun around, putting her fists up. It was Shuichi. What in God's name was he doing here of all places?

"Hey…" She greeted, slowly lowering her fists.

"Hello, what brings you here?" He said politely with a slight smile decorating his serene face.

"I could ask you the same thing. What're you doing so far from home?"

"Nothing really, just taking a stroll. Would you like to accompany me?"

"…Sure. Whatever."

They walked in silence. Trisha began to wonder what Shuichi's problem was. He wasn't saying anything and on top of that she had no idea where he was leading her. She also had no idea how to ask him about last night. What an awful weekend…They passed several disheveled homeless people and soon came upon an eerily silent dark area surrounded by abandoned factories.

"Um, Shuichi…this is a dead end…"

"This, my dear, is _your _dead end…" Shuichi said darkly.

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Cliffhanger! Reviews please!

Furthermore I'd like to thank the kind people who have reviewed my story so far ^_^ Thanks you so very much!!!

-Kimi-


	3. Chase

WEEDS CAN TURN INTO FLOWERS

DISCLAIMER: I Don't own anything that's already patented/owned etc. (especially Yu Yu hakusho)

CHAPTER 3

Trisha stopped dead in her tracks. Shuichi walked a few paces forward and stopped as well. He was eerily still. As a tense silence befell them, she wished she could see his face and read his expression. Maybe he was joking with her?

"Wh…what do you mean _my _"dead end"?" Trisha said taken aback, a shocked, suspicious look in her eyes. He responded with a short, dark laugh. She should have trusted her gut feeling and lead him to a populated area rather than followed him all the way out here. She _knew _there was something up with him, but no…Trisha will _always _be Trisha…

"I'm going to give you a choice…" He started off, still turned away from her. She grew uneasy and fidgety as the seconds ticked away and took a short step back. Was this really Shuichi? The sweet light-hearted guy she saw at the café laughing with his friends? It couldn't be…but who else in the city had such vibrant red hair and striking green eyes? Maybe Shuichi had an evil twin? But then again he _did _do something questionable…No, that wasn't the word for it… He did something _freakish_ to her wounds the other night so who knows? Maybe the guy had some sort of a Jekyll and Hide disorder...

"Stop joking, Shuichi…you're being scary…" She said and laughed nervously, her face twisted into an expression of fear and misplaced hope.

"Who's joking?" He responded, his sense of humor as sinister as homicide. Why did she even bother to make light of the situation? She should have turned and ran when she had the chance, now he would be expecting her retreat. Well, it was too late now. She took another step back and he turned around. Her heart began to race even faster. She could hear it beating and wondered if it was loud enough for Shuichi's ears to pick up.

"As I was saying…you have a choice: Come with me to demon world quietly, or resist and come with me anyway…choose wisely."

She stayed silent and looked at his serious expression. Everything about him was dark and she could feel the danger bubbling just beneath his façade. She thought over his words carefully as a cold sweat began to form on her brow. Something about his gaze held her in place: it was like when your parents yelled at you when you were a kid; you want to run, but you know it's futile. She ignore that fact and continued to think of an answer, and all of a sudden she found a loophole.

"How about I choose neither and just walk away…" She responded and laughed nervously. Adrenaline shot through her veins as his expression darkened into a glare. Yep; she just made a terrible mistake.

"O-or you can t-tell me why, yeah, you can tell me why you want to take me to, um, demon world, yeah…" She scrambled when he took a step forward, her voice slightly trembling. She felt awful. She didn't know why her head was spinning. Something was screaming "DANGER! DANGER! DANGER!!!" much louder than it should be. He stopped advancing towards her and smirked again. To Trisha it seemed as if she "lightened" his mood a bit.

"You love to stall, don't you? Perhaps you think someone will come to your rescue?"

Her lips twisted into a nervous, unsure frown. Was she hoping for someone to save her? But thinking realistically this place was abandoned and homeless people had a tendency of turning a blind eye to danger. Even if she did scream no one would call for help and even if someone _did_ call the police she could be injured or dead by the time the cops arrived. In reality the voice in her chest was right: there would be no escape, even if she tried it most likely would be futile. She'd have to rely on lady luck this time.

"N-not really, actually… but you said "demon world"…th-that means a world with demons, right? Doesn't that mean hell?" She stammered, stalling him anyway. Maybe she could somehow call the police? Her eyes widened in silent realization: She had thrown her phone against the wall in her room and failed to grab it as she was leaving her house… Even _if_ she somehow figured out the number to the authorities she couldn't dial it without a phone!

Screwed. She was screwed. The only way she could get out of this one is if she could distract him long enough and then dash out of there while he talked. She'd have _at least _a 3-second head start on him. She tried to look calm, but doubted that her gut-wrenching epiphany went unnoticed.

"Hell? …" He questioned, raising his eyebrows as if to mock her. "… Well, you _could _say it's something like that." He said, his smirk returning to his face. "But of course, you'd have to come with me to find out for yourself."

She laughed nervously. "I don't really know if I want to go…" She trailed off. "Maybe if you tell me why you want me to go I'll come along…" She continued nervously, hoping he'd tell her why.

"Well if I told you now—

She broke into a run. Screw the rest of what he had to say: she had to get outta there. She could hear him grunt angrily and then come after her. He was very athletic, she deducted since he gained on her quickly and remained behind her. The run was silent. He didn't call after her and she didn't have the time to call for help. She was too busy running, and he was too busy chasing, but both could feel the adrenaline rush through their blood and the tension breezing through the air around them. Finally Trisha could see some sunlight. She was still outside and she could see his shadow behind her as she looked at the ground. He sped up and naturally, so did she. She cut corners, jumped over crates, wondering where on earth she was going. She didn't have time to think. Eventually she began to feel a runner's high due to taking deep, even breaths (filling 98% of her lungs with air), which provided her blood and brain with oxygen, allowing her to run longer.

However, she began to tire and her controlled breathing gave way to panic. Her breaths became, quicker, shorter, putting more strain on her lungs, heart and muscles than necessary and she slowed down significantly, her body being unable to handle much more. In the bleak alleyway she saw his shadow lunge at her and she shrieked. She sprung forward and threw herself from the alleyway onto a somewhat populated sidewalk. She pushed herself up and sat back on her heels, ready to stand and run if necessary. She looked into the alleyway and saw him smile, as if he was saying, "Okay, you win this time, but I'll be back for you…I promise…" He disappeared into the shadows and from her crouched position she exhaled deeply and fell backwards, her backside hitting the pavement with a thud. She inhaled and exhaled quickly catching her breath while the passersby gave her odd looks. She placed her hand on her chest (as if it would help calm her heart down) and finally after several minutes she swallowed hard (her throat in pain after such a long run) and stood up. Her whole body felt heavy, as if she had 20 pounds of lead attached to her arms and calves.

She asked a young woman carrying a smiling baby in her arms for directions to her house. She thanked the mother when she received what she asked for and began her trek home at a brisk pace, trying to wrap her head around what had just happened to her. After about 20 minutes of walking, her mind caught up to the present and began to analyze the situation. What she realized chilled her to the bone. Shuichi could have caught her and dragged her to hell at whatever point during their game of cat and mouse he wanted. When she looked at him standing in the alleyway he looked like a demon. His smile was nothing short of creepy. Also, though they ran for ten minutes straight without stopping, he hadn't broken a sweat. He also wasn't taking short gasps of air as she was. He looked as if he hadn't lifted a finger…as if he'd been standing there forever, waiting for her to notice his presence.

Her mind tried to find a logical excuse for his appearance, but it was to no avail. Even if he was on the track team or an expert runner or if he did parkour…no one, absolutely no human being could run for ten minutes straight and not break a sweat. Furthermore there was the fact that he had done something weird to her cuts the other day. Though she dreaded admitting and accepting it, she had to concur that Shuichi wasn't human. The only other explanation she could find is possession. That was definitely a possibility.

Then another thought had struck her. He _helped _her, no, correction: he _healed _her. That was a good thing, right? He was definitely kind and gentle that night…_genuinely _kind and gentle. So what was the explanation for his recent demonic behavior? She had to stop for a moment and get her facts straight. Her mind was beginning to spin.

Fact one: Shuichi was definitely inhuman. Fact two: He behaved like a demon, but he also behaved like an angel…processing…processing…processing… … …Conclusion: He was an inhuman being with a split personality disorder? She put both hands on her head and kept walking, ignoring the curious glances and stares of passersby.

There is no way something _other than_ "regular" and "human" existed. No. Way. Right? Maybe he was a gifted human being who was possessed? Perhaps he was just gifted with a split personality disorder? No, no, that couldn't be it. A split personality disorder can't possibly change your body's endurance level _that _drastically to _that extent_. To some degree it's possible, yes, but not to _that _degree where he wasn't sweating or disheveled and didn't have some degree of shortness of breath. So he was either inhuman with a split personality disorder, or quite human, but under some kind of demonic possession.

Then another thought struck her: School was going to suck. She had him in three: not one, not two, but THREE of her classes. What was she going to do? How would she act? Should she confront him about it…around a lot of people so the most recent incident doesn't reoccur…? She had no idea. Maybe she should skip school? But if she skipped school she'd be home alone and if he had some other creepy abilities he could break into her house and kill her or take her to the "demon world" he spoke of. What was that anyway? All of a sudden an epiphany occurred and made it's way onto her face in an expression of realization. The keywords struck her: _Demon _world. Demon! He was possessed! She had to get him some sort of help then. Perhaps she should start wearing a cross. Did they have priests or exorcists in Japan?

All of a sudden she stopped mid-thought and mid-trek. _Why_ on _earth_ did she want to help this guy? He behaved murderously to her just about half an hour ago! Why on earth would someone want to approach a possessed human being in hopes of helping him? That was the dumbest idea she had ever thought of. That idea was dumber than the kid who got his tongue stuck to a pole in the middle of winter. No way was she going to do that. Noooo way.

Then another brilliant, and far safer idea illuminated her mind. One word: Kaito. He seemed to be good friends with Shuichi. He seemed normal and nerdy enough. Maybe _he'd_ know something about it. She could trust him, right? There was no way two friends like that could be in the same exact situation, right? Kaito was normal, right? Whatever, she had to assume he was.

She stopped again. Why was she getting involved in this? This was bad. Most of all, this was none of her business to begin with and she didn't like the idea of Shuichi _making_ it her business. She kicked a wall in frustration. It was all that cop's fault. If he stuck to his code she wouldn't have gotten chased all over town. If she hadn't gotten chased all over town she wouldn't have crossed paths with Shuichi. If she hadn't crossed paths with Shuichi she wouldn't be in this situation.

Then, she froze. The memory of his creepy, evil-looking smile flashed in her mind. He was going to come back for her…and what's worse is that she couldn't trust the cops around her to help her. Heck, who _could _she trust here? She was an American. How would a Japanese 911 (or whatever the number was) operator respond to some "stereotypical" American girl saying, "Help! My friend is possessed and I think he's going to come after me, can I please file a restraining Order!"? (Furthermore what would a restraining order do to help her anyway?)

She sighed. She _had _to deal with this on her own. Maybe she could go downtown and get a gun? No. It wasn't _that_ serious was it? Maybe she was over thinking this. Should she ignore it and continue on with her life as if nothing happened? … … …Yes. Yes that was definitely what she was going to do. She wasn't going to get involved in this. Noooo way.

She nodded, a determined look on her face. Worst-case scenario, she can always tell her parents to switch her classes. That sort of thing was allowed in Japan, right? Even if it wasn't if she coughed up enough cash it was, right? She shook her head and finished the journey to her home. By the time she stepped through the door her stepparents seemed to have forgotten all about her and the incident that occurred between her and her stepsister. But of course, Alyssa gave her a smug smile.

The blood-related family of three sat in their living room, sipping tea and watching television. She didn't have time for her younger sister's psychological games. She glared at the blonde, stepped into her room and closed the door. Luna greeted her by rubbing his body against her legs and purring loudly. She picked the cat up and held him close to her chest. She sat on her bed and cuddled with her friend, resting her face against his.

"To tell you the truth, kitty, I'm scared…" She mumbled into the feline's furry neck. As if on cue, Luna began to purr louder as if to say, "it's all right". Trisha released him from her arms, laid on her back and let him roll into a ball next to the curve of her side. She fell asleep in the relaxed position and entered a world of bizarre dreams.

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Sorry if this chapter was boring, guys. Everything will be explained soon, I promise! I had to get this up tonight, 'cause I didn't want to leave you guys hanging! Please please please review!

-Kimi-


	4. identity

WEEDS CAN TURN INTO ROSES

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything that's already patented/copywrighted. I don't own Yu Yu hakusho. I. OWN. NOTHING.

CHAPTER 4

-That Night-

Trisha awoke to the sound of her bedroom window being opened. Thinking it was part of her strange dream she closed her eyes and began to drift back to sleep, but then she felt a hand clamp over her mouth. Her eyes snapped open. The sound of Luna hissing reached her ears. She screamed. When that proved to fail, she attempted something she learned in a movie: When a hand is clamped over your mouth, turn your head to the side. So she did, but it was to no avail. Whoever was silencing her was able to deal with her struggling efficiently.

"If you turn your head, I'll break your neck, I promise." Came Shuichi's voice. She felt pressure on the back of her occipital bone and her heart nearly leapt through her chest. What on EARTH was he doing here!? Her eyes adjusted to the darkness. She heard Luna growling and saw the feline climbing up Shuichi's leg. Shuichi didn't seem to mind the feeling of claws digging into his skin. In fact, he was smirking as if he was enjoying the pain. Her eyes looked into his pleadingly.

"If you promise not to scream I won't kill your rather _annoying _littlefriend." He said, his expression turning serious. "Do you promise?"

She nodded. He took his hand off of her mouth. As more sleepiness wore off she noticed her hands were bound tightly behind her back by something smooth, yet strong. She couldn't move. Just as Luna was busy biting and scratching Shuichi's neck, Shuichi wrapped his hands around the feline's upper half (under his arms) and peeled him off. Trisha could hear the sound of Shuichi's skin tearing and could smell his blood. Luna momentarily curled his body into a ball in an attempt to wiggle free, and then latched onto Shuichi's left arm with the claws of his paws and feet. The little warrior began to bite Shuichi's forearm and wrist, growling viciously. Shuichi began to glare at the stubborn creature.

"Please don't hurt him Shuichi. I'll go to demon world or whatever with you, I don't care, really, just don't hurt Luna, please…" Trisha begged in a whisper. Throughout the years, Luna has been a constant in her life. The bond she had with the feline was strong and unexplainable. Losing him would kill her. Her eyes began to tear up and Shuichi gave her a perplexed look.

"And just what has this creature done for you?"

"He's been there to comfort me when I had no one. He's been my only _real _friend, as pathetic as that makes me look to you…" She admitted with teary eyes. "Please don't hurt him…" He glared at her.

"I don't understand you, but if sparing this creature's life makes you come quietly then so be it…" He stopped and smirked evilly. Something about the devious smirk on his face made her skin crawl. "Or perhaps if I kill it you'll come quietly anyway…I don't have to keep you conscious, of course…"

"No…If you kill him I'll scream. I'll scream freakin' bloody murder I swear!" She warned, the tone of her voice escalating with power and promise. He huffed and took what she said seriously.

"Fine." Vines snaked from underneath the blood-soaked sleeve of his black school uniform. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. This had to be a dream… If she could move she would rub her eyes over and over until the scene in front of her began to make sense. The green vines wrapped around the puffy, hissing cat's body and peeled him off of Shuichi's arm. Luna began to fight the vines restraining him, and Shuichi decided to take that opportunity to pick Trisha up. She gasped in shock and disgust as the blood of his wounded throat stained her left cheek when her upper body thumped against his. He rolled his eyes, closed them, took a deep breath and like magic his wounds began to close up.

"Wh-what are you…?" She stammered. "I…what….Is this…Is this a dream?" She panicked unable to fully accept what just happened in front of her eyes. It was as if his skin just zipped itself up wherever it was split. She began to shake and her heart rate escalated. She started to feel nauseous and soon became dizzy. The whole situation had thrown her mind out of its delicate balance.

"I am your worst nightmare and your greatest fantasy, my dear." Shuichi replied with a dark and secretive smile. She looked up at him, open-mouthed. What on earth did he mean by "greatest fantasy"? Was he going to rape her? No…no way this was _not _happening. Fear brought more tears into her eyes.

"W-What are you going to do with me…" She asked in a shaky voice.

"I'm going to use you and kill you."

"No…please…I don't wanna lose my virginity to you and then DIE!" She cried as quietly as she could, keeping her promise to him so her cat would be spared her fate.

"What a silly creature you are…" He breathed then chuckled mockingly. "I'm not attracted to women like you: Always running, always fighting. It's annoying. You are rather beautiful but you yourself are so rotten I wouldn't touch you that way to spare my own life."

Pain. Ouch. Again her heart flailed wildly in reaction to what he said. Then unfortunately it dropped down to her stomach in embarrassment and depression. David had said something similar too… Hearing almost the exact same phrase from two very different, yet very attractive men stung. Shuichi began to walk to her open window while she rested in his arms, mortified and silent.

"Shuichi wait…What about Luna he's still stuck in your weird…um…things…" She said slowly, unsure of how to refer to the vines holding her cat hostage.

"He'll be released once we leave. You have kept your promise. I will keep mine." He responded. He was a man of his word? Confusion struck her again. Was he good or bad!? He gave her no time to contemplate, hopped onto the windowsill and jumped right out! She gasped and screamed into his chest, more tears flowing down her pale face. This man was going to be the death of her. He landed smoothly, but her head slammed against his shoulder and her scream ended in a startled yelp. She sniffled and moaned, the pain spreading through her temples and forehead.

"Ouch…" She muttered, noticing that she had bitten her lip. Her neck began to ache as soon as she moved her head to check if every other part of her body was unharmed. "Ugh…whiplash…perfect…" She droned. She looked up at her bedroom window and saw two glowing honey-colored eyes staring back at her. Cat's always landed on their feet, yes, but they also had fragile paws. There was no way the black feline would follow. Nonetheless, she was glad for her little friend's safety and turned her head back towards Shuichi who Blankly stared back. For a moment there was nothing in his eyes; just emptiness and then a moment later he took off and she found herself pressed firmly against him. The coppery scent of blood filled her nostrils. She nearly gagged. A few minutes later her mind was racing. Everything that happened overwhelmed her and she fainted…

-Only God knows how much later-

She awoke to find her wrists chained to the wooden post of a large, elevated king-sized bed. It looked like the kind of bed a princess would sleep on; it even had a sheer bed net surrounding it. She twitched a bit and found that her arms were asleep. As her senses returned to her she soon realized that she was laying sideways. Her head rested on a fluffy pale-pink pillow and her arms were elevated high above it. She used the strength in her (now sore from the day before) legs to stand up on the fluffy mattress. She achieved her goal successfully and shook the numbness, pins, and needles out of her arms. When she was done she sat down on both knees and looked about the room she was in. She couldn't see much through the sheer white net and couldn't really move to kick it out of the way due to the pathetically short length of the chains she was bound to the bed with. She appeared to be in a modern room that looked like something out of a display bedroom in Ikea. Every object in the room was coated in color-coordinated shades of pale yellow, pale pink and crème.

_"So what happened wasn't a dream? I really was kidnapped…" _She thought to herself. Despair struck her heart. Shuichi sounded like he really wanted to kill her. She started to cry, wondering if she'd die in this room or perhaps somewhere far worse. After her head began to hurt she stopped sobbing.

"_I have to get a hold of myself. I'm not going to die here. I'm NOT going to die here…right? …right? No? Yes? Maybe? UGH! Who cares I can't go down without a fight! Come on Trisha let's man-up and get the hell out of here!" _

After her pep talk she glared at the shackles binding her. She had to find a way out. She tugged on her restraints and the bed began to shake. She smirked. Did Shuichi really think she was _that _weak? She turned her body so her feet were facing the intricately cared headboard of the bed. She found it difficult to breathe since both her arms were slung over her right side and thoroughly restrained, but she sucked it up and began to kick the bed apart. She kicked and kicked and kicked and finally she heard a loud cracking/snapping sound. For a moment she though it was her ribs due to the pain in her side from her spiral-shaped body position, but then she noticed that it was the bed giving way to the vicious beatings she was giving it.

She smiled, thinking "Success!" but then she screamed when she realized the canopy had tilted and almost fallen on top of her. If the wooden part hit her she would most likely get a concussion and if the heavy velvet cushion managed to trap her beneath it, she'd suffocate, especially if she couldn't lift it with her already sore legs. She growled in frustration, wanting to kick the bed further, but knew that if she did it would end terribly for her so she held her anger on a short leash and looked for another way out. Finding none she sighed in resignation, prayed the canopy wouldn't collapse on top of her and waited for assistance.

As if on cue, she heard the click of a doorknob turning and the squeak of a door opening. She turned her head to the noise and saw Shuichi. Wait a minute…had he taken her to demon world? She contemplated why she hadn't asked that question before but he interrupted her wandering thoughts by walking up to the bed net and opening it so he could see her.

"So the princess has awoken…" He murmured.

"S-shuichi…?" She stuttered. "Where are we?"

"Still using that old name?" He sighed. "Tsk, tsk, tsk…shame on you, Trisha…"

A wave of frustration overcame her. "When am I going to get my answers!" She shouted angrily. "I don't give a damn about your stupid name! Just tell me where I freakin' am and what you're freakin' going to do to me! A victim should know her fate right!?" She shouted, her voice breaking at the end when she remembered he was going to kill her. Tears sprinkled from her eyes and skated down her cheeks like ice skates on a frozen pond. He chuckled mockingly.

"You're so impatient. I wonder what your friend would think if I _did _take you in this body…" He said darkly and stepped towards her. Her mouth dropped open.

"Wh-what do you mean _take _me!?" She shrieked and shimmied away from him as far as she could. He still advanced towards her and put a stern hand on her face.

"Come on now, you're smart enough to figure that one out." He whispered seductively into her ear.

"S-stop…" She pleaded, fear of violation hushing her voice to a mere whisper. "Who are you…what is your real name…why are you posing as "Shuichi" in my school…what do you mean what would my "friend" think if you…took me… what friend…? And what do you mean by "in this body!"" She stalled, hoping to take his mind off of defiling her.

"My, my…you _still_ haven't figured it out?"

"N-no…obviously not…" She replied shakily. He pulled his hand and his face away from hers and looked her in the eyes.

"I'm not who you think I am."

She smashed her teeth together in frustration. This guy danced around _everything. _

"What do you mean…" She demanded once she had quelled her anger. All of a sudden, his face began to twist and distort. He became a different man; a much taller man with cerulean blue eyes and black-and-navy tinted hair with side swept bangs. His dark locks were tied back into a long, silky ponytail that trailed down to his middle-back.

His clothes morphed as well: what was a black school uniform became a black button-up shirt with matching black slacks, and shoes. The top three buttons of this man's shirt were undone, giving her an idea of his muscular structure. His outfit was completed with a loose blue tie that hung around his neck, popping up his collar just a slight bit. He looked classy, devilish and worst of all, sexy. He was the ideal sophisticated bad boy that all women drooled over.

"In truth my name is Ren and you, my dear, are the key to my dreams."

She only started back in silent disbelief.

"Sh-shapeshifter?" She mumbled, ignoring his comment about her role in his life. He nodded with an approving smile.

"_N-n-n-n-n-noooooo way! This stuff only happens in the movies. I gotta wake up…I gotta wake up…I gotta wake up…this is a nightmare…someone please…wake me up! Anyone!"_

"You're starting to catch on, my dear…but that was a very obvious one. You'll have to do better than that to surprise me…" He mockingly chastised.

"Wh-what do you want with me?" She asked, wide-eyed gazing into his handsome face.

"Well, there's something I must have, and in order to get that I'm going to need you."

"What do you have to have." She_ stated_ in a monotone voice. Shock paralyzed her and her emotions. All she could think about was what had just happened in front of her eyes and _if _it actually happened or not.

"A flower."

"I'll go pick one for you, then."

He laughed. "You really do have a sense of humor, even if at the moment your voice is as dry as your…well…you understand…" He joked perversely. She didn't emotionally respond to him at all for fear she would lose control, panic and faint yet again. He frowned at her.

"Come on, now…don't be so cold…" He suggested. When she shook her head no he gave her a pitiful look and continued explaining. "This flower is just a legend here in demon world, but I think I may have found its exact location thanks to a scroll my father left to me in his will. Once I obtain this flower you come into the picture."

"Did…were you the one who…"

He glared at her for getting off topic.

"The one who healed me…was it you?" She asked, some curiosity seeping into her otherwise blank tone.

"Healed you? No. That was your dear friend Kurama."

"Kurama?"

"Yes, Kurama. The one you think is 'Shuichi'." He mocked his name in her tone of voice.

"Why is he also Kurama?" She overcame her shock and looked at him with curiosity in her features. "What's going on!?"

"He's also somewhat of a demon."

"Somewhat?"

"Yes. Now why do you ask? Do you think that fool will be able to save you now that you're here? What's your interest in him?"

"The fool here is you, Ren." Came Shuichi— no— _Kurama_'s voice.

Ren glared and turned around. Trisha could hear a whipping sound and before she knew it the chains that bound her to the bed broke and she was staring at the shackles on her wrists, which were now in her lap. She looked at Kurama. He looked different…dangerous, but this time in a good way. He looked as if he had something to protect, not like he had something to kill. Her head began to spin. Two Shuichi's, a kidnapping, a threat on her cat's life, and a shape shifter was way too much for her to process in one sitting. She felt the room spin again, but she fought to stay conscious. She held her head in her lap and closed her eyes.

_"Get a hold of yourself, loser…" _She chastised herself.

She didn't know what overcame her, but she kicked at Ren's knees, trying to knock him off balance (A trick David had taught her). However, of course, she missed and the shape shifter back flipped over her head. He would have caught her by the shoulder if Kurama hadn't somehow managed to cross the 12 feet of space between himself and the duo and taken her into his arms and traveled another twelve feet back to where he originally appeared in the room…all in the time span of about 5 seconds… She gasped as she tried to wrap her head around what had just happened. She looked at him for answers but he frowned in response.

"I'm sorry you were dragged into this. I will explain everything later." He gently informed, trying not to overwhelm her any further. "Please follow any instruction I give you. Neither of us wants you to end up in his grasp at the end of the day, am I correct?"

He didn't wait for an answer as he set her down and stepped in front of her, protectively. He held out his left arm in front of her and angled the right side of his body towards Ren. Trisha saw a long, green, thorny whip in his right hand. Her eyes widened at the sight of it.

"Tsk, tsk Kurama. You should be working _with _me rather than against me. After all, this _is_ about the possessor plant…"

Kurama's emerald orbs narrowed into dangerous slits.

"That flower does not exist." The redhead stated dangerously. He almost sounded as if he was in disbelief.

"Why, yes it does."

"Only in myth, unfortunately. I'm afraid your plots have been foiled." Kurama countered, however to Trisha it seemed as if he was slightly unsure.

"Ah, but I have a map. As I'm sure you do too…somewhere in that ancient memory of yours… after all, you _were _once the protector of that flower, weren't you?"

Kurama's eyes widened. What on earth was this man talking about? Something about what he said seemed to ring a bell but when Kurama tried to remember all he came up with was a vague feeling of familiarity.

"Ah, of course you don't remember. As I recall, the history books say the great thief Youko Kurama betrayed his own brethren in order to steal just one of the flowers for himself and carry out the very same plot I have in mind right now. As a result his memory of the location of the possession plant and/or plants was wiped clean."

"Perhaps I would believe you if you were better known for your honesty and honor than your trickery, Ren." Kurama responded coldly.

"Ah, so you've done research as well; the rule _was_ always "know thy enemy", of course. You and I think a lot alike, Kurama. Are you sure you want to be protecting her, rather than utilizing what she has?"

"She cannot possibly have demon blood within her veins. Yusuke is the only remaining one!" Kurama shot back.

"Ah, yes, the great son of the late King Raizen. He's the only _half _demon left Shuichi. However, you and the woman standing right behind you both have a certain percentage of demon blood within you." Ren explained with a knowing smirk.

Kurama glared at him, not knowing if he was lying or not.

"That is impossible. My body and blood are both human."

"Oh, no no no. I've done my research, my friend. Your DNA testing has proven to me that the blood in your present body is precisely 0.9998% demon. You do have another half…remember?" A look of realization spread across Kurama's face. Ren had a point, but, how was he able to get a DNA sample? Perhaps he had been trailing Kurama for a while now and managed to get a sample from a battle of some sort…

"Anyway, my dear Trisha behind you has the perfect 5% that is needed to activate the possessor plant and its power."

"Wh-where the hell did you get my DNA from…?" She asked her voice barely a whisper. Both men turned to look at her. She was pale and clearly in shock from what Ren had revealed.

"Perhaps you don't remember the fall that wounded you, my dear."

"Fall?"

"The one you took while that policeman was chasing you."

"You were stalking me!" She accused angrily.

"No, my dear, I was actually the one _chasing _you."

"You were the policeman!?" She shouted in disbelief. He smiled and nodded in response.

"Impossible. I would have smelled demon blood on you if you were the policeman." Kurama countered.

"Ah, meeting you in that situation, Kurama, was a complete coincidence. But it truly _is_ lovely to be a shape shifter. It allows me to shift the scent of my blood. You simply didn't get close enough to smell the lie, my friend. Fortunately for me you ran to aid dear Trisha and completely left me behind. By the way, that fool of a man that "took care of" me hits with the strength of a woman. You should really tell him to train his body a bit more if he wants to survive the near extinction of the human race in the future…"

Kurama became silent and donned a serious expression. This opponent was strong, skilled and well informed. This wasn't a simple c-class kidnapping case anymore…

"I'll give you one last chance, Kurama. Join me, or die fighting against me. Choose wisely."

"I will fight but I will not die." Kurama responded strongly. His muscles tensed, preparing for Ren's next move. Would the demon respond verbally or physically?

"What a waste of life. It's a pity, really. Perhaps I'll keep you alive and let you watch the extraction process."

_"Extraction process??" _Trisha thought with a disgusted look on her face. _"That sounds like a twisted abortion of some sort…" _She grimaced.

"Ew…" She muttered aloud.

"I will not let you get that far, Ren. Concede now and your life will be spared." Kurama offered as a last chance.

"We really are alike Shuichi; giving last chances and whatnot… Great minds think alike and if you understand that then you know what will happen in the next few seconds."

To Trisha everything after that moment became a blur of black, blue, red, green and skin tones. She could not keep up with the speed of the two men for the life of her. All of a sudden she felt herself being lifted and when she blinked she found herself about 6 feet in the air in Ren's arms. He held a knife to her throat. She gasped, wondering what would've happened if she had moved another centimeter for whatever reason.

"Drop your weapon Kurama or I'll slit her throat, drain her of whatever comes out and extract the rest from her corpse." Ren said viciously. She and her captor landed on the floor with a thud. Her neck pressed against the knife a bit (due to the force of their fall) and she could feel her skin tear slightly. It felt like a paper cut but she knew if he pressed any harder she'd start to bleed.

She looked over at Kurama and her eyes widened at the amount of wounds he had sustained. His black school uniform was torn and drenched through in certain spots with blood. She looked at whatever parts of Ren she could see and saw that he was just as equally beat up. She didn't know how to react. Would Kurama let her die? Would he die for her sake? Should she say something? What would she say even if she did begin to speak? Too late; Kurama dropped his weapon.

"There we go…" Ren purred with a sadistic, I-have-the-upper-hand smirk.

What's going to happen now? Would he really cut her if Kurama didn't do what he said? She had to find out. With a surge of adrenaline she kicked his shin with the heel of her right foot in defiance. He growled and pressed the knife closer to her neck, nicking it slightly.

"Don't make me waste your precious blood." He said through gritted teeth.

That was all the time Kurama needed to release a burst of energy that traveled to the many seeds he had dropped while distracting Ren with his rose whip. Vines shot from the ground, catching the demon off guard. One of the larger purple vines shot up from the ground beneath Ren. Ren managed to notice it in time and jumped, however, it wasn't aiming for him. It was aiming for Trisha. That miscalculation caused the blue-eyed demon to drop his captive and his knife due to the force of the whipping action the vine had made.

Trisha sailed through the air. Kurama could smell her blood. Apparently Ren still had his knife firmly pressed against Trisha's throat when Kurama commanded his plant to attack, thus causing her injury when she was forced out of his grip. Though his plan was successful in general, Trisha's wound was the only possibly life-threatening mishap. He heard the girl shout in pain and saw her grab her throat. He sprung forward, caught her in his arms and somersaulted to land in an area about ten feet away from his opponent.

Kurama turned his head to Ren. The demon was gone. Kurama realized what was happening and quickly took Trisha's bloody hand away from her throat.

"No, no don't touch me!" She shouted, blood sputtering from the wound on her throat. She hated it when people tried to help her when she was injured, but Kurama shushed her and put two of his fingers to her wound anyway. As his long digits traveled the length of her cut, her skin sealed up, leaving no trace of a wound.

"Th-thank you…" She sputtered after the fact. That didn't hurt at all. In fact, it felt very nice; definitely not what she expected. He nodded in response and just as he turned his head Trisha caught sight of Ren's foot making contact with the palm of Kurama's right hand. Trisha fell to the floor as Kurama was pushed back by the force of Ren's attack.

Soon after, Trisha was able to decipher what had occurred: Ren disguised himself as one of the vines. Kurama probably knew which one he was but decided to let Ren think he had the upper hand just so he could heal her wound, which she would have survived from anyway. Guilt overwhelmed her. He didn't have to do that for her. He didn't have to defend her at all. Why was he fighting for her life? Why did he care? And what was all this business about demon blood and extraction and possession plants?

Again the two men became blurs of color. This time Trisha ducked under the bed. Maybe it would make it harder for Ren to find her. Something began to grow from the floor beneath her. She scooted back and held her breath, trying to be as quiet as she could. The growing object took shape of a red flower with about ten petals and a glowing yellow center. Trisha's head began to ache. She hissed and placed her palms on her temples as she groaned in pain. She felt like she had a migraine, a fever and a tension headache all at once.

_**"Trisha, I know you're in pain, but I promise you it will end soon. Please listen carefully and do as I ask. I need you to crawl out from under the bed, search the room for a light switch and flick it off. Can you do that?" **_Came Kurama's voice…FROM INSIDE HER HEAD!

_** "Ow…Kurama what the hell is going on…" **_

_** "Please Trisha, I'm beginning to run out of options." **_

_** "Okay. I'll try to be as quick as possible…" **_

_** "Thank you." **_

The light from the flower faded and the beautiful plant withered. The pain in Trisha's head stopped and with a jolt of adrenaline she crawled out from her hiding spot, stood up straight and searched for a light switch. Her heart pounded a mile a minute. She felt paranoid and unsafe, as if she was a soldier on a battlefield trying to avoid bullets.

She spotted the object she was searching for and dashed for it. A knife came sailing at her, and lodged into her side just as she reached her goal. She shouted in pain and slammed against the wall, using it as a crutch to hold herself up. Her fingers inched towards the light switch.

After what seemed like forever, she felt the plastic nub that would hopefully end the battle, applied pressure to it with her fingers and pushed it downwards, throwing the room into pitch-blackness. She slid down the wall, the sound of cries of pain and breaking glass filling her ears.

Soon after she heard light and quick footsteps coming her way. If it was Ren she was dead. She felt like wounded prey, waiting to be dealt with. The blackness of the room didn't help her fear subside either. Her eyes searched the darkness wildly trying to find some clue as to who was approaching her, but it was to no avail.

Suddenly the lights were flicked back on. Her pupils dilated and pain shot through her eyeballs. She squeezed her eyes shut and soon after someone gently picked her up and moved her elsewhere.

As she began to feel cold and numb she lifted her head up, opened her eyes and to her relief, saw Kurama. She checked her surroundings and found herself in Kurama's arms; he was standing in from of the bed. The room was in shambles and the only window was broken. It looked as if someone had jumped through.

"Is he dead?" She managed to ask, but then coughed up blood. Pain traveled up her side, reminding her of the hefty wound she had sustained. Shivers ran up her spine at the memory. Had Ren thrown that knife at her on purpose or was it accidental?

"Try not to speak." Kurama gently ordered, interrupting her thoughts. She grasped his shirt and tugged, gritting her teeth in pain. He got the message and answered her question. "No he's not dead but he is gone for the time being. Prepare yourself, I'm going to set you down on the bed." She nodded and winced in pain as her body bent when it touched the surface of the bed.

"I'm going to pull the knife out. Are you ready?" He asked.

"Just…" She coughed, more blood escaping her mouth. "…do it." He nodded, a serious look to his green eyes and pulled. She screamed and blacked out, the pain too much for her body to withstand.

E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:

That's it for this chapter folks! As always please review! Sorry for the long wait! I had so much stuff to complete and deal with and whatnot! I have to take my 600-hour test tomorrow! I need to study! Wish me luck-nyaa!

-Kimi-


	5. Student

WEEDS CAN TURN INTO FLOWERS

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything that's already owned or copywrighted or patented or whatever. Don't sue me.

CHAPTER 5

Trisha awoke to find herself traveling at a high speed. When her vision cleared she realized she was in Kurama's arms. Silently, she took in her surroundings. It seemed as if she and Kurama were in a thick forest of some sort…a thick forest that smelled like _rotting corpses and blood_…_lots_ of blood. Come to think of it, she was drenched in her own blood wasn't she? Kurama's botanic scent was also coated with blood. Her stomach lurched and she prayed that she wouldn't vomit; however her prayers weren't answered because her nausea only grew worse. She tapped Kurama's shoulder. The redhead looked down at her and stopped in his tracks in a dark clearing void of any signs of life other than greenery.

"You're awake. How do you feel?" He asked sincerely, concern evident in his facial expression.

"S-…sick…" She moaned. His eyebrows rose in question and then a moment later he seemed to understand what she was talking about.

"Is it the smell?" He guessed. She nodded and seemed to turn a very slight shade of green. He set her down gently but she fell to her knees. Trying to keep some of her dignity, she scuttled to the side and vomited away from where Kurama stood. Her stomach lurched again and she vomited more, the disgusting scent of the air making her head spin. She coughed, spat out the nasty taste in her mouth and wiped the tears that built up in her eyes. She stared down at the vomit on the green grass.

_"How embarrassing…one of the last things I wanted to happen here in Japan was vomiting in front of a cute guy… why, God…why me?" _She complained in distress and embarrassment. Her cheeks flushed and she took a deep breath. This time she held back her bile and prepared to face Kurama.

"Are you all right?" Kurama asked. Thankfully he didn't laugh at her. He was a sympathetic guy after all.

"N-…no…" She responded honestly and then looked up at him. "You saved me." She said, gazing up into his eyes. He smiled and nodded.

"What now?" She asked. "Explain everything…please…" She begged as the fog in her mind began to clear up. He shook his head, responding negatively.

"Why?" She asked, a distraught frown on her face.

"When we arrive in the human world I'm going to have a friend of mine erase your memories. This is a lot to handle and your life would be far simpler if you had no knowledge of all of this."

"You can't do that to me…you can't…" She said, the strength gathering in her voice. She shakily stood up and gave him a firm look as she spoke to him.

"Ren." She said. "He'll be after me. What if all of this happens again?"

"It won't."

"How can you be sure?" She argued stubbornly.

"I'll protect you."

"Then I'll see you fight him at some point anyway and you'll have to explain anyway."

"Not if you're unaware of the fact that I'm protecting you." He responded slyly.

"I don't want that."

"I'm afraid this isn't your choice."

"This is about my life and what's in my blood. _Of course_ it's my choice." She fought back.

"Trisha, please don't argue." Kurama said tiredly. A pang of guilt struck her heart. He looked worn out, still injured in several places from his battle with Ren. However, her guilt turned into motivation. She didn't want to cause him all of this trouble and then just walk away unscathed. It wasn't fair to him.

"I'm going to argue. If you want to do something good for me then help me help you protect me." She said intricately. 

"Excuse me?" He said with an eyebrow cocked. "I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean."

"Teach me."

"How to fight?"

"Yes."

"That is absolutely out of the question."

"It damn well better not be." She snapped back.

Kurama gave her an amused smile. Was she really standing up to him after she had seen what he could do and how dangerous he could be?

"Don't give me that smile, I'm serious, Kurama. Teach me how to defend myself. I'm not caving in and letting you screw around with my memories. I was pulled into this crap so I'm going to stay in it, _by choice._"

"Trisha this world…this secret you now know of is far more dangerous than you think. It would be much wiser of you to leave it behind."

"Are you calling me stupid?" She asked, her eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"Of course not." He answered plainly, making her look far dumber than she already appeared. She glared at him in frustration. She had no idea why she wanted to remember all of this. She had no idea why she would disagree with him. He was right, like he always was when he opened his mouth. It was much better for her to stay out of his secret life. However, curiosity pulled her further in against her better judgment. What did Ren mean by "legendary Youko-what's-his-face", "5% demon blood" and "Possessor plant"? She had to find out and more than likely Kurama had the answers. She was sure her determined expression brought on his slightly distraught one as he sighed and crossed his arms.

"I'm serious…" She muttered. "It's unfair to keep things about myself secret from me." She said sternly, raising her voice even though he was only two and a half feet away from her. He had to cave in soon or she'd run out of reasons to convince him to keep her memory.

"Why, exactly, do you wish to be a part of all of this? Ignorance is bliss, after all, is it not?" He asked her seriously. Memories of David flashed through her mind. She had absolutely no idea he was sleeping around with her sister and she was much happier when she was blind to that fact than she currently was with the knowledge of what happened between the two traitors. She frowned. He had a good point, as usual, but still something was telling her to push further.

"To be honest…" She said sincerely and hung her head in shame. "…I really don't know. But I know that this is something I have to do…"

A long, tense and uncomfortable silence befell the two. Trisha looked up and saw that Kurama was gazing at his feet with a contemplative look on his face. Her words had obviously struck the genius in some way. After a minute or two that seemed like forever to her, he sighed in defeat and looked up. His eyes shone with a quiet mischief that seemed to be hidden just beneath the surface of his façade.

"Very well I'll teach you how to defend yourself." He stated. She smiled joyfully in response, but he interrupted her silent cheers. "However…" He spoke sternly, his expression becoming serious. "The training will be far more difficult than you can fathom. I will not show you mercy. If by any chance you show that you cannot proceed, or if I decide that you can no longer continue training I will have all memories of our interaction erased. Agreed?"

He laid out a hefty deal. She thought about it carefully. It was all or nothing and she liked it. For so many months she felt numb and lethargic, even when she was with David. This seemed like something fun and exciting that would at least give her something to do other than mope around during her free time. She nodded and gave him a determined smile. He nodded in response; however the look in his eyes told her she had just begun digging her own grave. A slight shiver ran up her spine. He smiled gently and walked up to her. Then he took her into his arms and glanced down at her.

"This will be our secret. I assume you'll keep it to yourself?"

She nodded in response. Did he really even have to ask her that question?

"Your training begins tomorrow. I suggest you rest well."

"Can you give me some answers first?"

"Tomorrow."

"What time is it anyway?"

"In the human world?"

"Yeah…sure…" She responded awkwardly. If this was demon world it really wasn't as hellish as Ren made it seem. Maybe the navy-haired demon was talking about the smell in the air.

"19:00."

"…" She glared at his shoulder blade as he started to move. Why did every country besides the United States tell time differently? She used her fingers to count and found out that Kurama had meant 7 pm. When she was abducted it was early morning…or late night…she really couldn't remember. That meant she was out a whole day! What was she supposed to do about school!? She missed a WHOLE DAY. Her grades were going to slip so far in math it was ridiculous to even think about it! He seemed to sense her panic and chuckled a bit.

"What's so funny?" She asked in a frustrated tone of voice.

"I'm ahead a few chapters in every subject. If you'd like I could lend you my notes."

And yet again he began an internal struggle. Should she accept his help? Or look cool and deny it? If she denied his help she'd have to figure everything out by herself and those little characters in the explanations and examples in the textbook always seemed to throw her off. If she failed it would end badly: Her teacher would probably call her out on a failing quiz grade in front of her whole class. Then she'd look absolutely ridiculous in front of the man who tried to prevent that exact dilemma. She sighed. She had no choice.

"Sure. Thanks." She accidentally said in English and then blushed at her small slip-up. He smiled to himself and she shook her head. "I mean, yes, thank you." She corrected herself in Japanese and blushed. He nodded and sped up. A few silent minutes later she began to relax, ignoring everything that had happened earlier that day. She took a deep breath and began to doze off. She thought about how comfortable Kurama was, and if she could actually trust him to keep his word. Then an image of his mischievous look flashed through her mind. She smirked. He was expecting her to cave in from his brutal training. Stubbornly, she told herself she wouldn't, just to prove his expectations of her wrong. She finally dozed off with a determined smile on her face…

-Next morning-

Trisha awoke to the sound of her alarm ringing. She looked at the glowing green letters. They read: 4:45. What in God's name was she doing up at 4:45? A moment after that thought she gasped and sat straight up, remembering everything that had…. happened…in her…dream? Was all of that about Shuichi a dream? She threw off her covers and shot out of bed. To her horror and surprise she found rips, tears and bloodstains all over her pajamas. She gasped yet again and touched her throat. She had definitely been cut by an enemy and healed by…Shuichi—no—Kurama.

She looked at her nightstand, where her alarm clock still screamed. She stepped over to it, heart pounding, reached over and turned the alarm off. The following silence seemed eerie. She felt a pressure against her right leg and let out a short scream of fear, but soon found out that it was Luna, whose meowing seemed to say, "I missed you". She let out a sigh of relief, picked up the feline and cuddled with him. She still had three and a half hours left before she had to get up for school, which started at 8.

She sat back on her bed and began to sift through her racing thoughts. As the feline began to purr and settle in her lap she spotted a small, white piece of paper underneath her alarm clock. She picked it up, unfolded the small square twice and slowly read the neat lettering.

_ "Good morning. I hope you have slept well. Meet me at the entrance to our school at precisely 5:00. Dress down and please be on time. _

_ -Kurama" _

She reread the note two more times to make sure she wasn't confusing any Japanese characters, but each time she read the same thing. She glanced over at her clock. It was now 4:50.

"Holy crap!" She shouted in her native tongue. She only had ten minutes to get dressed and run to the school gate! She picked up her small feline friend, placed him on the bed, gave him a kiss and ran to her closet. She threw on a pair of black sweat pants that bunched together at her knees, her signature black, low-top converse and a black cotton tank top. She threw her messy brown hair up into a loose bun, grabbed her sling-backpack and ran out the door. Halfway to her destination her stomach growled and she realized she hadn't eaten anything before taking off at full speed. Deciding that it was too late to go back and too early for any fast-food restaurants to be open, she continued running and reached her destination at exactly 5 o' clock. She spotted Kurama waiting for her in a pair of blue jeans, red pumas, and a white t-shirt, leaning casually against the metal school gate. His arms were crossed and the streetlight next to him seemed to shine down on him like a spotlight. Still half-asleep, she noted that the scene in front of her looked like something out of a Broadway show. Kurama most definitely looked like a hero who was about to act out some sort of rescue scene.

She shook her head, put her imagination away and halted in front of him. She put her hands on her knees and took a few seconds to catch her breath. She cursed herself for not bringing a bottle of water to quench her dry, aching throat and straightened up. Her gaze met his and he gave her a friendly smile.

"Girls need more than 15 minutes to get ready and arrive someplace, ya know." She chastised light-heartedly as her body finally calmed down. She yawned into the palm of her hand, became slightly dizzy due to the blood rushing to her head, and then wiped the tears that appeared in her eyes afterwards.

"I apologize. Today we will go for a run in the park. As we are exercising I will explain everything to you in detail and you may ask as many questions as you want." He informed.

"Okay, sure. That's fine with me. Let's get started." She replied tiredly.

"Very well. Can you run 7 laps without stopping?"

"Huh? Of course not, why do you ask?"

He smirked. "The body can do surprising things when it is pushed beyond its limit."

"Wh-what?" She replied, startled at his response. "No way…don't tell me we're going to—

He nodded, interrupting her question with his silent answer. She stared at him wide-eyed. When she got over her shock she donned a determined expression.

"Fine, I'll do my best but you have to promise that we'll _walk_ to the park."

"I don't agree to those terms, Trisha."

"Why not!" She complained with a frown.

"If you have an issue I suppose I'll give my friend a call…" He said nonchalantly, reaching into his pocket for what she assumed was his phone.

"What! No! Hey don't do that!" She protested in a panic. He smiled triumphantly at her response. She glared at him and an idea struck her.

"How can I be so sure this "friend" of yours exists, hmmm?" She asked accusingly, a sly tone to her voice.

"Would you like to find out for yourself if he exists or not?" Kurama calmly countered with a mischievous glint in his emerald eyes. Something told her she'd really rather not find out if his friend was real or not... She decided to take his word for it and shook her head in response to his question.

"Very well then, let me begin by explaining about the three worlds, demons, and humans and the history of demon-human hybrids…"

They began to run in the direction of a park she knew not of. She followed his steady pace, listening to him speak. As he talked she noticed he wasn't out of breath and didn't seem very tired. Maybe he really wasn't human…

-Some time later-

They finally reached the park and Kurama had finished talking about humans and demons and what he mentioned were "the basics" and moved on to a different topic. Trisha had already begun to perspire and slow down but one glare from the man speaking to her had her running back at full speed in fear of what he might do to her as punishment for slacking off.

"Before…you…move on…" She huffed trying not to throw off her controlled breathing. "What did Ren…mean when…he said that…you and I…have a bit…of demon…blood in us…?" She asked and fought so much harder to gain control over her breathing. If she lost the steady deep-breath-in, deep-breath-out pattern she'd start huffing and puffing uncontrollably and would have to stop to let her body recover. The thought of stopping scared her and had her working harder to keep up with her mentor.

"Very good question. I have a bit of a condition that sets me apart from quite possibly every living creature in all three worlds…" He began. She could remember Ren mentioning something about "another part" of the redhead existing but at the time she was too dazed at the moment to give it a second thought.

"I used to be a fox demon; a thief named Youko Kurama. I was cornered and attacked one day during a heist. My soul entered my human mother's womb and not long after I was reborn as Shuichi Minamino."

_"So does he have two souls or something?" _She thought as she tried to focus on keeping up with him. She decided not to ask him because if she did she might end up throwing herself off which might end up causing her to stop for breath which might actually end up getting her punished…severely. She had no idea why she assumed he'd do something awful to her if she failed him, but the one glare he gave her earlier in their run kept her from finding out if her assumption was correct or not.

"You have a very rare and practically unheard of 5% demon in your blood. Either one of your parents had some percentage of demon in his or her blood or you may have a condition similar to mine."

_"No way in hell do I have some weird demon soul living in me…no freakin' way…If that turns out to be the case I'm getting my memories erased and going to church every Sunday afterwards…"_

"Do you have any more questions?"

She shook her head in response.

"The possessor plant is an, until now, mythical plant that if activated in a special way can possess the minds of any and all demons of any and all levels. It's a very dangerous plant. Suppose a C-class demon stumbled upon it and managed to activate it. He'd have all the power in demon world to do whatever it is he pleased. A group of highly skilled demons realized that as a possibility and became the possessor plant's guardians. Until now no one has claimed to be able to locate the plant or the guardians who protect it."

"So…what the hell… was Ren…talking about?"

"I'm not entirely sure. Almost all of the things he said that day baffled me. I'm in the process of gathering information as we speak."

She nodded in response. So he wasn't a lazy guy…_at all… in any way shape or form… _She concluded glaring at the ground beneath her feet. If she had given an extra 10% to everything she did she'd probably not be struggling so hard in her current situation.

"You've lasted four laps. Very good." He complemented. She glared at the ground again, feeling her lungs, legs; arms and throat burn to high heaven. She definitely wasn't going to last 3 more laps. Him mentioning how much she had accomplished and giving her an idea of how much she had yet to accomplish didn't help her body meet his demands either. He chuckled quietly and continued running.

"The extraction process is a process where all of the blood is extracted from a person in order to be fused with the possessor plant. To my knowledge the blood is literally pulled out of the qualifying candidate."

She wanted to stop and cry, literally. She complained over and over about everything in her mind and fought back tears. When it was said, running seven laps seemed easy but when it was actually done it was like torture. She began to wonder if she should stop running against his wishes and test his rumored "mercilessness" but then remembered that if she gave in he'd definitely kick her out of his life for good. For whatever reason, that seemed to scare her more than his carefully hidden wrath. She let out a small moan of pain and pushed her body further, her eyebrows pinching together as she became lightheaded from her runner's high.

"Do you remember my explanation about the prince of spirit world and his role in my life?"

She nodded and clenched her fists together, wishing he'd stop asking her questions she didn't really have to respond to.

"I spoke with him last night. My orders are to protect you at all costs. He believes Ren wishes to run all three worlds on his own. In his theory he assumes that Ren needs the possessor plant to control every demon in demon world and turn them into soldiers of his army. He will need that army to fight and win against King Enma in order to have all existing power."

_"And just what the hell is going to make him happy when he has everything, literally: everything? What a jerk…" _Trisha thought in response to his statement.

"Koenma also thinks that Ren will make many attempts to capture you…or your corpse. Of course he won't come after you directly now that he's sure you're under my protection, but he will most likely send others to do his job for him. They may be disguised and they may seem harmless so do try to keep your eyes wide open, so to speak."

She nodded in agreement and continued to push her weary body forward, ignoring its protests.

"What if…I screw…up and…I need your help and…you're…not…there?" She asked in a tired tone of voice between deep breaths. She slowed slighty and he shot her another dangerous look.

"It's in your best interest not to slow or stop, Trisha…" He calmly stated. The fact that he was calm scared her more than any person who would have repeated his sentence in an angry or dangerous manner. She pushed her weary muscles harder, feeling as if she would collapse. She spotted a blue jungle gym in the grey, morning light. How many times had they passed that same jungle gym? 5? 6? She wasn't sure and decided it was better that way. She continued running, wondering if Kurama would answer her question. As if on cue, he began to speak.

"I will give you a device. You will be able to reach me through it." He answered. She nodded in response.

"One more lap." He stated a few silent, stressful minutes later. At that point Trisha's mood began to deteriorate rapidly. She definitely wasn't a morning person and she definitely wasn't a distance runner. She was a mostly sleepy, lazy Leo who preferred kickboxing and karate to a long, painful run. From what she estimated to be halfway through her last lap, she sped up, pushing her seemingly collapsing muscles far past their pathetic limit. He fell into step with her and the air around them seemed to change. It seemed pleasant, as if he was pleased with her progress. Didn't he _want _her to fail? Wasn't he _trying _to make her give up?

Finally she spotted the jungle gym yet again. Was that the finish line? She prayed it was, but as usual her prayers were ignored and she was forced to run more. About 3 minutes later she lost all hope of any sort of break and continued half-heartedly running, the only thing fueling her being her desire to prove him wrong. When tears finally began to stream down her cheeks and she was prepared to beg him for a rest, he finally began to slow down to her pace. She wondered if he saw her tears even though her head was down.

"You may stop." Those were the magic words that seemed like music to her ears. She collapsed on the grass next to a wooden bench. She rolled over onto her side, ignoring the cold morning dew that sent shivers throughout her overheated body. She heavily breathed in and out, squinting her eyes as the sky became lighter and lighter. Kurama kneeled down next to her, staining his jeans with dew and dirt. Her half-lidded eyes traveled up his toned body and landed on his serene face.

"Would you like to know how many laps you actually ran?" Unable to verbally respond, she shook her head and continued panting like an over exhausted dog. All she needed was her tongue sticking out and she could safely be called a bitch (literally a female dog).

"Tell me…anyway…" She managed to grumpily say.

"Eight and a half. Do you remember what I said before we started running?"

"The body can…do surprising things…when it is…pushed beyond its…limits…" She huffed out, ready to fall back asleep.

"Precisely." He said with a smile. "You would have done even better if you had eaten." He explained. Her eyes opened wide in surprise.

"I have better hearing than most people. Your stomach was protesting the whole time you ran even if you didn't hear it yourself…" He informed. His eyes seemed to soften and he gave her a gentle smile. He stood from his crouched position and bent over slightly, sticking out his hand.

"Allow me to treat you to breakfast." He offered. She finally caught her breath, nodded and took his hand. He helped her up and caught her when she stumbled. When her forehead made contact with his shoulder she almost fell asleep, but he steadied her and helped her stand up straight. She almost cried out, wanting to sleep more, but instead walked alongside of him.

As they walked together she felt dizzy and lightheaded. Her muscles ached and she began to slow down. Kurama noticed her agony, but didn't respond to it. He merely matched his pace with her own and continued walking her to a café that they reached a few minutes later. The owner had just opened up and as soon as they stepped inside the air-conditioned sanctuary Trisha collapsed in a chair and held her head in her hands.

Kurama gazed at his friend from just a few feet away. The shop owner gave the two of them a strange look, but proceeded to walk towards him with two menus in his hands. He smiled once more at his pupil's exhausted form. She had proven herself to be far more determined than he originally thought she was and had sparked his interest. He turned his head back to the shop owner and greeted him with his signature serene expression.

E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:

Thaaaaaaaaaat's that! Review please. Pretty please =[ ? Make me smile, please?

-Kimi-

-oh yeah and tell me what you think, too! Lol Be gentle! By the way, I passed my 600-hour exam with a straight 100! Woohoo!

And I think I'm just gonna discontinue this one if I don't get any more reviews. Anyone wanna tell me if I should or shouldn't continue?


	6. Encounter

WEEDS CAN TURN INTO FLOWERS

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything that's already owned, copywrited or patented or whatever. Don't sue me.

CHAPTER 6

Trisha carefully picked up her rice with her wooden chopsticks and brought the plain white grains to her mouth. Kurama sipped his green tea, waiting for his bowl of miso soup to cool.

"Your training won't become any easier. Are you prepared to relive this morning as many times as needed?" He asked. Her blue eyes met his emerald ones as if to say "are you seriously asking me that?" When he smiled in response she looked downwards at her bowl of rice and continued eating.

He saw her stop and put her bowl down and wondered why she was looking down at the table, deep in thought.

"Is there something on your mind?" He asked curiously, putting his cup of tea down on the wooden table. She looked at him as if she was having trouble putting her thoughts into words.

"Hey, why did you keep me from stopping anyway? I thought you _wanted_ me to give up…" She said, relieved that she was able to put her question into words confidently. He gazed at her for a short moment in thought. Did his actions really bother her that much? He then smiled in response, as if she had discovered a secret he was trying to hide.

"You're very observant." He complemented, avoiding her question. She raised an eyebrow, not letting him dance around the topic. She had him pinned and for some reason it felt refreshing to him. Perhaps it was because someone finally pressed to receive a straight answer from him, rather than just accept a change of topic to avert his or her attentions.

"Perhaps I've changed my mind after witnessing your determination." He stated and picked up his cup of tea. He brought it to his lips and drank from it, a serene look on his face. She picked up her bowl of rice and continued eating.

_"I wonder how hard his training is going to get. What's he going to do, ask me to push a two-ton truck a certain distance?" _She wondered as she finished her bowl of rice and moved onto her bowl of miso soup.

"I don't care what you throw at me. I'm going to do my best no matter what." She stated out of nowhere, to her surprise as well as his.

"That positive attitude will certainly help you." He responded once his raised eyebrows returned to their regular position.

"I hope so." She replied, doubting herself for just a moment.

They continued eating. When they finished Kurama paid for the meal and the two left, walking towards their neighborhood in a comfortable silence.

"Why can't your friends know about you training me?" She asked, remembering that he had asked her to keep this a secret between the two of them.

"Because if any information leaked to Koenma I'd most likely be forbidden to keep you involved in this issue. It's far better if there's no way for him to find out. There's one person in particular who may most likely end up letting something slip as well." He responded with a small smile.

"Uh-huh… a girl you like, right?" Trisha said in a slick tone of voice, a knowing smirk on her face. A light blush tinted Kurama's cheeks.

"How did you know?" He asked, smiling calmly. His eyes shone with the thrill of being found out.

"Your smile. I've seen it before on a lot of my guy friends. All I can tell you is do your best and give it your all." She said sympathetically, a slight pang of hurt echoing throughout her already empty heart. Why was she upset that he had feelings for someone else? Mentally she chastised herself. It was stupid to feel sad. She should be happy for him. Maybe she just felt sorry for herself. Her heart began to sink and she focused on the positive aspects of life: at least she had training to occupy herself with nowadays, right?

"Thank you. I'll fulfill your advice to the best of my ability." He responded gratefully.

The rest of their walk was silent and peaceful. As they reached the corner where they would part ways Kurama stopped and took his back Nokia out of his pocket. He slid the small technology open, exposing a keypad.

"Trisha, may I take down your phone number?" He asked politely. She nodded, recited memorized numbers and asked him for his number. He gave it to her and the two parted ways, promising to see each other at school.

-A little bit later-

Trisha finally reached her house, entered her room, disrobed and stepped into her shower. It was 6 o' clock. She still had some time to sleep, but knew waking up would be terrible and even worse: painful, so she dried her hair, left it loose and dressed in her school uniform, wearing it exactly the same way she did on her first day of school. She looked at herself in the mirror and frowned. Again she found out something she didn't really want to know.

Why didn't she want to know if Kurama's heart was taken? She couldn't answer that question. Maybe she had hope that someday he'd look at her differently or maybe she just didn't want to know about another's imminent happiness. She couldn't tell, maybe it was a mixture of both. She glared at her reflection.

"Don't you dare think about giving your heart away. Don't you dare ever get any feelings for anyone. Got me?" She scolded herself in English, pointing an index finger at the mirror. Luna meowed in response to her voice and sat down next to her standing form. The feline stared into the mirror, just like Trisha.

"You're the only thing I need in my heart. That's it." Trisha said, looking down at the little black furry mass next to her. She bent over, pet the feline on the head and opened her bedroom door. It was about 7 o' clock. She still had an hour to get to school. She shrugged and decided to go for a walk, and maybe find a dojo so she could finally take a karate class like she always wanted to.

She shoved her books into her sling backpack, ignoring the briefcase that the school provided for her (that she should be taking to school daily). She slung the backpack across her torso and left her house, walking towards the school, hoping to find a dojo somewhere along the way. She walked staring at the pavement beneath her feet; going over everything she had so far learned about her sticky situation. All of a sudden, WHAM! Someone crashed directly into her. She fell to floor with a thud and so did the blue haired girl who ran into her.

"Ouuuuuch!" The pink-eyed girl moaned. "I'm sorry I'm such a klutz sometimes!" She stood up and rubbed her backside at the same time that Trisha did. "Are you all right?" She asked, while bowing in apology.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Trisha mumbled then widened her eyes in surprise when she realized who the girl was. She was Kurama's friend, the one he was eating with at that outdoor café. In fact, she was heading in the direction of his house… It seemed very weird to her. Maybe _she_ was Kurama's crush? "Are you okay?" Trisha asked, smiling sadly.

"Why, yes of course I'm fine! Oh my goodness I completely forgot why I was running so quickly in the first place! I'm Botan by the way! It was nice running into you; Bye!" She said and continued running. A distraught look passed over her face as she sped up and turned the corner.

Trisha stared at the street Botan ran down.

"Do your best, Kurama…" She whispered sadly and continued on her way.

-At School-

Japanese history still baffled Trisha and it didn't help that she missed a full day of it. All the names of the emperors and dynasties and eras seemed to blend together as the events in the history book danced and jumped around each other on her mental timeline. She held back a sigh of frustration as she tried to look on the bright side: at least Kurama had his notes delivered to her… Yep, the redhead didn't show for school. That thought made her wonder how bad Botan's news might've been if in fact she was running to his house to tell him something.

She began to daydream again, but all of a sudden a knock at the classroom door broke her thoughts. Her eccentric teacher, a man of about 28 years of age, with short brown hair, glasses and dressed in a navy blue business suit allowed whoever was disturbing their class entry. The door slid open and it was Kurama. She smiled in relief but something felt…off inside her heart.

"Please excuse me. I was at a student council meeting." Kurama explained. He handed the teacher a pink slip. The teacher looked it over, nodded, and put it on top of his desk.

"Take your seat, Minamino."

"Thank you."

Kurama walked over to his seat and smiled at Trisha before he sat down. She smiled back, but an odd feeling overcame her. It was like a pinprick in her chest, but it didn't hurt it just felt…negative. Glancing at Kurama, she could tell he felt it too, however when his eyes met hers he looked absolutely serene, like the feeling didn't bother him at all. She gave him a confused look and he only smiled in response and opened his book to the correct page. She mimicked his actions and attempted to pay attention, however that strange feeling in her chest grew strong, unavoidable and frightening. Something terrible was going to happen; she knew it, but maybe Kurama didn't?

She continued daydreaming about everything that happened to her and before she realized how long she had zoned out for, the bell rang. She jumped up in alarm and looked about herself as students packed their books into their briefcases. She shoved her learning utensils into her sling backpack and began to walk to the door. She felt a tap on her shoulder and jumped, the negativity in her chest clearly making her seem on edge. She spun around and saw Kurama, who had a friendly expression on his face.

"Ku—

Kurama interrupted her and put a finger to her lips. She looked at him wide-eyed and confused.

"My human name is Shuichi. Please try to remember to address me by that in school." He said as quietly as possible. She nodded and he took his finger away from her mouth.

"Shuichi…what was wrong this morning?" She asked with concerned blue eyes.

"Let's walk to our next class. We'll speak on the way." He responded in a serious tone of voice. She nodded, donning a serious expression. A chill rose up Trisha's spine at that moment and the stressful feeling in her chest grew even stronger than before.

"Why do I feel this way?" She asked, while they walked down the hallway to their next class.

"Your spirit awareness is developing." He responded.

"What is that, like demon puberty or something?" She asked, confused. Kurama chuckled in response.

"No, not at all. Spirit awareness is like a sixth sense."

"Oh, like that movie with that kid…"

"Excuse me?"

"You know… "I see dead people"." She mimicked mocking a creepy tone of voice. Kurama chuckled again. Afterwards he wore an amused smile.

"It's something of that sort. What I meant is that you're staring to develop the ability to see, hear and sense things out of the norm. For some humans, spirit awareness comes in the form of prediction."

"Prediction?"

"Yes. A couple of my friends have that type of ability. They can tell when something dangerous will happen, and can rely on their awareness to find something or someone they're searching for."

"Oh, so they're psychic."

"It's somewhat of a psychic power, but not exactly. I have a few friends who are psychics."

"Oh…"

"Their powers are different from the psychics you're used to hearing of on television."

Trisha blushed. "So I watched too much scary stuff when I was a kid…shoot me."

"I'd be glad to."

"What!" She said stopping dead in her tracks. Kurama stopped a few paces ahead of her and turned around to face her. He was smiling and his eyes were bright and friendly.

"I was joking, Trisha." He explained.

"Oh…sorry…A lot's happened recently so…yeah…" She said looking away in shame. Kurama gave her a short, understanding laugh.

"I think I would react the same way in your place. However, for future reference I wouldn't dream of hurting you. Please trust me."

"Okay…" She replied guiltily and looked up at his serene expression.

"We should hurry." He mentioned a moment later, breaking the silence between them.

"Sure…" Trisha caught up to him and they turned a corner, nearing their classroom.

"What dangerous thing is going to happen to me, Ku—I mean, Shuichi?"

"It's nothing too bad. You needn't worry."

"What do you mean _"nothing too bad"_?!" She exclaimed in alarm. Kurama laughed.

"You'll understand later. Believe me it's nothing you can't handle."

"How do you know?"

"If you study the situation and words said at the time your spirit awareness reacts you will be able to make an educated guess about what will or will not happen. Just give yourself some time. Believe me, you will learn."

"So why won't you tell me if you know?"

"Because this is a part of your training. If I told you my guess you wouldn't progress any further. Am I right?"

"…You have a point, but still…" She said uncertainly. He smiled to himself and stepped into their class.

"Try not to dwell on it too much. After this class I have yet another student council meeting that will occupy my time until later tonight. I will be unable to walk you home. Please forgive me."

"You were going to walk me home?"

"Of course. Wouldn't any gentleman?"

"Nope." She answered bluntly. Kurama's eyebrows rose, and when they fell back into place a moment later he smiled. The bell rang and the two friends nodded at each other and took their seats.

-Later-

Trisha sighed as she walked home from school by herself. Her mind was occupied with her situation, Kurama, Ren, and her two-timing ex boyfriend.

"Hey you!" She continued walking, assuming that she wasn't the one being addressed.

"Everton!!!" She stopped and looked about the crowd of students walking around her in response to her last name. Her eyes landed on three girls about 5 feet in front of her. They wore uniforms issued by her school and had brown wavy hair and brown eyes. The girl in the center with the longest hair was glaring and pointing at her. The girl next to her on the right had chin-length hair and the girl on the left had shoulder-length hair.

Both of them were glaring at her as well. The feeling in her chest began to ease away and she wondered if this was the "dangerous" event that was going to happen. She walked up to the three girls, almost holding her breath and finally realized that they were the triplets in her history class. She couldn't quite remember their first names, so she wondered if they were jumping her instead.

"What are you to Minamino!?" The longhaired girl asked. She added the suffix "-kun" at the end of his last name and Trisha wondered if the three girls had a crush on him or something.

"Um…his friend…duh…" She said, making the three girls look foolish.

"_NO_ girl is allowed to be so close to Minamino!" The girl on the right with the chin-length hair warned sternly in her melodic tone of voice.

"Why?" Trisha asked, confused.

"Because the Minamino fan club's #1 rule is that you absolutely cannot, under any circumstances, talk to Minamino as a friend without at least one other member with you! You broke that rule miss Everton! You walked with him all the way to your next class!"

_"What a freakin' idiot. Is she for real? THIS is the confrontation I was worrying about!? Gimme a break…" _

"Let's get a few things straight." She began in an aggravated tone of voice, her anger rising at such a pathetic reason to be stressed about. "One: I didn't join any stupid fan club. Two: I can talk to whoever I want, however I want, whenever I want. Three: If you have a problem with that you can shove it, because I don't need to deal with insignificant crap like this." She snapped at the three girls, the stress of the last couple of days finally overwhelming her and engulfing her in anger.

_"I can't freakin' believe I worried about this ALL. DAY. LONG. Kill me. Or let me kill them. Please." _She begged any higher power willing to listen. Her anger rose and her glare put fear in the three girls' eyes. The girl with the longest hair in the center of the trio glared back at her once she recovered from her initial shock.

"Let's go girls. Minamino would _never _look twice at a girl this inelegant!"

"In_elegant_!?" Trisha exploded. "Are you kidding me!? Move. Now." She warned. For whatever reason, both parts of the girl's sentence made her blood boil. The fact that she was upset about Kurama not looking at her twice aggravated her even more and she was close to punching one of the three girls in front of her.

As if sensing their impending doom, the three girls stepped aside, fearing her anger. Trisha waltzed away, fuming. After several paces and numerous stares from passersby she began to regain her lost patience and laughed, realizing it felt good to tell someone off for once.

She continued on her trek to her home, feeling much better after the terrible feeling in her chest went away, realizing that she must've made the girls jealous in history class when she smiled back at Kurama because that's when her bad feeling had flared up. Kurama was right, as usual. She smiled to herself; glad she could trust someone for once.

"While walking down a main street filled with many people (all dressing in different types of clothing styles) she noticed a building with a sign that said "Now accepting students willing to study and practice the martial art of Mui Tai." She brightened, figuring she could use the extra training and could maybe impress Kurama when he began training her in some kind of martial art.

Her eyes sparkled as she read the sign. She always wanted to study a martial art of some sort but was always either too busy or too shy to walk into a place with so many strong, confident people. She pushed open the door, ridding herself of her out-of-place bashfulness and walked up to the front desk. A boy about her age smiled at her. He wore a white outfit, much like the ones she saw back in America with a black sash (not belt) around his waist that was decorated with red birds of some sort. He had short black hair, side-swept bangs and eyes as green as Kurama's.

"I see you go to Meioh." He stated in his charming voice.

"Yeah. You go there too?" She asked wondering if he was a student or just knew the school by its reputation.

He nodded. "You must be the famous Everton, Trisha."

"Famous?"

"Well you're Alyssa's sister, aren't you?"

"Oh god…please…don't tell me she's been bad-mouthing me and spreading rumors about me!?" She shouted in alarm. He chuckled in a friendly manner and held his hands up at her distraught expression.

"No, no. Please relax. What sister would do that?'

"Mine! Did she say anything or not!?" She exclaimed worriedly, a pleading, panicked expression on her face. He laughed again.

"No she didn't say a thing. She's very popular and as a result your popularity has risen as well."

Trisha sighed in sweet relief and almost bent over from the tension in her tired, aching, overworked body.

"_Thank God…I don't need any more trouble." _

"Would you like to join our dojo?"

"Actually, yes." She said, finally recovering after her shock.

"Well, the schedules and prices are on this brochure right here."

"Oh…there are different plans… like a cell phone company…" She murmured as she took the white paper booklet off of the top of the tall desk and began to look through it. The handsome boy laughed in response.

"You're pretty funny." He complemented. She smiled in response.

"Thanks, I get that sometimes."

"My name is Akano, Masaya."

"Would you prefer being called "Akano" or "Masaya"?" She asked seriously.

"They don't call people by their last name's in America?"

"Not too often."

"Then by all means call me Masaya."

"Okay." She said and smiled. "Call me Trisha. I hate it when some of my teachers call out my last name."

"You're not proud of your last name?"

"Nope. Not a single bit."

"May I ask why?"

"My parent's are jerks, but it's expected."

"Expected?" He asked, as if he had never been through any sort of abuse.

"Yeah. I'm adopted. So their neglect and hate was bound to happen at some point." She replied nonchalantly, keeping her eyes on the brochure.

"I see…to go through something like that is terrible…" He said, his voice sounding sympathetic. She blushed to herself while keeping her eyes on her paper; unable to believe she told a complete stranger something like that. Masaya was so easy to talk to that she forgot to keep her mouth shut about such personal matters.

"It's nothing, really." She responded bluntly, trying to close the topic.

"May I give you an option that's not in the brochure?" He said randomly. She stopped reading, looked up at him and raised an eyebrow in confusion. He was smiling at her, which confused her more. Was there some special deal only certain customers of a certain age got or something?

"I'm one of the trainers here. Rather than spending money on this over-priced place, why don't you train with me privately?" He suggested kindly. At first her eyes widened at his offer, but then her eyebrows pinched together in offense.

"I appreciate the offer, and not to sound rude, but I don't need any pity." She said sternly, keeping any attitude out of her tone of voice.

"It's not pity. I think after a difficult life you deserve this. Your eyes are determined. I can see that you want to learn. The least I can do is make it easier for you." He explained, a serious look on his face. She studied his emerald eyes for several moments and sighed.

"I don't know what to say…" She said, almost defeated.

"The offer's here if you decide to take it." He said in a friendly, relaxed manner.

"…How about I pay you anyway?"

He studied her his expression becoming stubborn. He processed and reprocessed her words in his mind until he finally came up with an answer.

"500 yen for each lesson." He stated. "I think that's pretty reasonable." He compromised.

"…It's not enough."

"Your gratitude itself is enough. 500 yen."

"…" She looked into his eyes and finally gave into him, her expression softening. "Deal." She finally said. His expression became relaxed and he pulled his phone out of the pocket of his white karate pants.

"May I have your phone number?" He asked politely.

"Sure." She agreed, recited her phone number and in return took his phone number down, saving it into her contacts list in her mobile phone.

"It's getting late. You should hurry home, Trisha. The streets become dangerous at night."

Her encounter with Ren disguised as a cop flashed through her mind. She nodded, said goodbye and walked out after he gave her a smile and a nod in response.

E:E:E:E:EE:E:E:E:E:E::E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:EE

Uh-oh uh-oh! The two lovers are drifting apart! What to do what to do! What will happen!? :] You guys gotta read to find out. I promise there will be some KuramaXTrisha soon though so don't give up on this fic yet!

-Kimi-

P.S. Please review!


	7. Patience

WEEDS CAN TURN INTO FLOWERS

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything already owned, patented copywrighted etc. So now you can't sue me. :p

CHAPTER 7

The next morning she woke up at 4 and found a note under a rose on her nightstand. She stretched, fixed her black plaid pajama shorts and white tank top, and forced her sore muscles to shift her body into a sitting position. She picked up the rose, smelled it and felt her heart rate increase. He could've just left the note…it was sweet of him to leave a rose. She opened the note and read the neat characters.

_"Please meet me at my home tonight at 21:00. –Kurama-" _

He never left any details and most likely the redhead would refuse to tell her anything if she asked. She yawned, reset her alarm clock and fell back asleep with a smile on her face, glad that she would be able to get a few more hours of sleep.

-During lunch break-

Trisha sat on a bench under the Cherry blossom trees in the courtyard of her school. She opened her lunch box and took out a rice ball. She frowned. Rice had become a part of her regular diet nowadays and it was starting to bore her.

She sighed and munched on her lunch, watching her peers interact with each other in large groups or romantic pairs of two. She heard footsteps on the soft grass behind her and turned her head. It was Kurama. He gave her his signature friendly smile.

"May I sit with you?" He politely asked.

"Only if you tell me what you're going to make me do tonight." She responded with a joking smile.

"Oh, then I'll be taking my leave." He replied, continuing her joke.

"Wait, I was just kidding!" She exclaimed worried that he took her seriously. He turned around with a small, playful smirk on his face.

"I know." He said. His smirk then faded into a calm smile. She gave him a withered look for making her worry and watched as he sat down on the bench next to her and placed his right ankle on top of his left knee.

"Want a rice ball?" She offered, seeing him without a lunchbox.

"No thank you." He kindly declined and averted his attention to the bright blue sky. She mimicked his actions and continued eating, enjoying what little peace she had left before 21:00, which she figured out was 9 o' clock at night.

"I don't know who my parents are…" She murmured when her thoughts took a dark turn. The thought of her unknown bloodline and true identity saddened her and for a moment she wondered if she had just spoken with a sad tone in her voice.

"What brought around such a morose statement?" Kurama asked, glancing at her, and then glancing back at the sky. Though his facial expression was calm his voice was concerned.

"If it makes you depressed I'll be more than happy to shut up…" She responded solemnly, worried that he didn't want to hear her sob story.

"I'm concerned. Please continue." He declined.

"Well, I was adopted…and just now I was thinking about my blood. The whole "5% demon" thing…"

"I see. You're wondering where your demon blood comes from, or rather WHO it comes from..."

"Yes, but…there's more… WHO exactly are BOTH my parents? WHY did they leave me? Are they alive? If not, then how did they die? Was their death normal or was it demon-related?" She explained in a distant, dismal tone of voice. She sighed and set her rice ball back in her disposable cardboard lunchbox. She lost her appetite and kept her eyes on the floor. Just who the hell was SHE? Who was she supposed to be? What did he parents want her to be? Did her biological parents care enough about her to WANT her to be a certain way?

Kurama frowned. At least he knew of his origins. Even Youko could somewhat remember the mother who birthed him. He felt a pinprick of sorrow jab his heart and he began to wonder if he could somehow help his distraught, foreign friend map her family tree. Perhaps Koenma would let him use King Enma's vast library…

"You have much to discover about yourself." Kurama said wisely. "If the answers you seek are less than appealing would you regret asking me to withhold from erasing your memories?"

Trisha thought about his question for several moments. What if her parents were bloodthirsty and evil? What if her parents were _killed _by something bloodthirsty and evil? What if her parents were failures? What if her parents killed each other? What if they were or were _involved in_ something horrible and unspeakable? Was she prepared to accept that she could quite possibly and literally be the spawn of Satan himself? She sighed in frustration, but finally made up her mind: As crazy as her answer was it was what her heart was telling her: yes. She would accept whatever the truth was simply because it was the truth and there would no longer be any loose ends in regards to her origins.

She looked over at Kurama and studied his figure. He sat in the same relaxed position and his hands were folded across his abdomen. He looked as if he was in a trance, nothing but the blue sky reflecting in his mysterious green orbs. For a moment he looked a thousand years old and a thousand more years wise.

"Whatever the truth is I'll accept it. Will I regret knowing? Depending on what it is I probably will for a couple seconds. But if I find my answers I'll be grateful for them for sure." She explained, snapping him out of his trance. He looked over at her. She gazed at his eyes. He looked as if she had just solved a mystery for him somewhere deep in his mind.

"Then I will do whatever I can to help you find the answers you seek." He responded to her with a small smile. She smiled back, an odd sense of relief flooding her emotions.

"So, how about we go over the training plan for tonight, huh?" She suggested in an upbeat tone of voice. She received a short chuckle in response and felt the previous moroseness in the air dissipate like sugar in water.

"Very well then." He responded, a slight mischievous tone to his voice.

"Really!?" She responded, pleasantly surprised.

"Yes. The plan is to dress comfortably…"

"Okay, and then what?" she continued, hope thick in her tone.

"The next step after that is to meet me at my doorstep at 21:00."

"And then…" She urged, hopefulness turning into impatience.

"And then the plan is to wait patiently for further instruction."

Trisha's hopeful face fell into a glare. Somehow, deep in the back of her mind she knew he'd do something like that to her.

"You're a jerk." She said flatly (not really meaning it, of course) and then pouted.

"And you're quite impatient. In battle impatience could lead to unpleasant consequences. An old friend of mine refused to heed the same warning and lost his sight as a result." Kurama explained.

Trisha gazed at him and the wisdom in his eyes. What exactly has the man in front of her been through? It was at that moment where she realized she didn't really know much about Kurama. After that she felt a familiar feeling: curiosity. Kurama always lured her in by sparking her curiosity. It seemed that for now that was how he guided her. She smiled as a result of that thought. It brought a pleasant feeling to her heart. As if that was something he only did with her.

"Okay." She responded. "I'll be patient."

Kurama was pleasantly surprised. If he were to be honest with himself he'd have to say that he was not expecting her to accept his advice. "Your thoughts are difficult to predict." He said as a result.

"What do you mean?" She asked and turned back to face him. Her eyebrows were pinched together in question. He smiled in response to her facial expression.

"I mean precisely what I said and nothing more. But I will mention that your unpredictable mind will serve you well in battle. Never behave like an open book to your opponent."

"…unless you want him to…" She finished quietly after a few moments. "So when he does 'figure you out' (so to speak) you have the advantage."

"Now you're thinking like a fighter."

"Nah, I just watch waaaaaay too many way-of-the-warrior-type movies and animes." Trisha laughed and blushed. Kurama chuckled.

"You watch anime?"

"Yeah, what of it? That's one of the plus sides to coming to Japan. I can cosplay whoever I want and run around in the streets like that on a Monday afternoon and no one will laugh at me." She joked in defense.

Kurama burst out laughing, an image of Trisha dressed as sailor moon running around Tokyo popping up in his mind.

"It's not funny it's true!" She protested in a slightly frustrated tone of voice. Kurama's laughter dies out and he smiled at Trisha brightly.

"It's funny _and_ true." Kurama stated, earning a smile from Trisha.

"Shuichi!" Came a melodic voice.

"_Oh god…that sounds like…"_

The pair turned around and saw a girl from their math class running towards them.

"Kyoko. Great." Trisha stated unhappily with a deflated look on her face. Since the first day of school Kyoko has been nothing but a firmly lodged thorn in her side.

"Hello Kyoko." Kurama greeted with a friendly smile, ignoring Trisha's comment.

"I finally found you." She said, out of breath. Apparently the girl ran all the way there from God knows where.

"Are you all right?" Kurama asked politely. Kyoko nodded and caught her breath, completely ignoring Trisha's presence. The rude girl straightened and took a deep breath to calm herself down.

"Yes. Thank you for asking. You're so sweet, Shuichi." She said in a honey-and-sugar tone of voice. "Anyway, we have a student council meeting. It's urgent and we need everyone there. Want to run there with me?" She asked, even though she should technically be commanding him to go with her. But of course, she wouldn't DARE be rude to "her" Shuichi…ever.

Kurama nodded, turned to Trisha and gave her an apologetic smile. Trisha understood and nodded back in quiet acceptance. No words were needed between the two. Kurama stood up and stepped next to Kyoko.

"I will see you later." He said. Trisha nodded and watched the two jog away.

"What a snot rag." She said to herself in Kyoko's memory. Her thoughts then shifted to the person who had just sat down next to her. She turned to the person and saw that it was Masaya. He gave her a friendly smile. His short, black side-swept hair was slightly messy and his emerald eyes were bright with life and optimism.

"Yo." He greeted. She almost burst out laughing. His very American greeting was said with such a thick Japanese accent she couldn't help but think it was funny. She took a deep breath to calm her almost exploding laughter and looked him in the eyes.

"Hey." She said in English. He smiled at the charming greeting and then gave her a confused look.

"Something funny?"

Apparently he realized she was about to laugh at something. She felt bad and decided to keep the real reason secret for him. He was so sweet to her, why would she hurt his feelings after he showed her nothing but kindness?

"No, no. You just reminded me of something." She covered. "Anyway, how are you?" She asked, diverting his attention.

"I'm fine. How are you?" he responded with a laid-back smile.

"I'm all right. How's school going for you?"

"It's okay. I'm glad Kyoko interrupted you before I did. Unlike me, she's not afraid to be rude." He stated in a relieved tone of voice then laughed sheepishly. Trisha glared at the Sakura tree next to the bench.

"You can say that again." She muttered, angry at Kyoko for interrupting her and Kurama's conversation. Again she realized she was upset over something stupid and became angry with herself for it.

"Hmm?" Masaya responded, raising his eyebrows. "Was she interrupting something important?" He asked curiously, a serious expression on his face. Were she and Shuichi lovers? Did they have feelings for each other? Was that why Trisha looked upset at the moment?

"What? No. Wait, what do you mean by 'important'?" She asked as if under suspicion.

""Nevermind." Masaya stated lightheartedly. He smiled at his friend and was relieved when she smiled back, forgetting their misunderstanding. "Anyway, when do you want to start your lessons?" He said, diverting her attention.

"Huh? Oh you mean with you?"

"Yep."

"Um… I guess tomorrow after school?"

"Hmm…" She watched his green eyes become contemplative. It seemed as if he was trying to fit her somewhere into his schedule…if he had a schedule. "I'm pretty sure I'm free. One hour right after school. Does that work for you?"

"Yes."

"Looks like I'll be walking you home then."

Her eyes widened at his comment and she almost audibly gasped. Didn't Kurama say he'd be walking her home or something like that since they lived so close to each other?

"Um…sorry to switch up on you but how about 6 o' clock tomorrow?" She rescheduled, guiltily.

"6:00?" he asked with a confused look on his face. "That early?" Trisha almost slammed her palm into her forehead. Of _course_ he'd think 6 am…

"I mean, 18:00."

"Oh, okay. Time is told differently in your country isn't it?" he assumed sympathetically.

"Yes." She responded with a small smile.

He smiled back. "Lunch is almost over. Where's your next class?" He then asked.

"Um, That way…" She pointed to her right.

"May I walk you there? I'm headed in the same direction anyway." He offered.

"Yeah sure." She smiled, somewhat happy she wouldn't have to walk alone. "Thank you." She almost whispered, a grateful tone to her voice.

"It's really not an issue. Do you usually walk alone everywhere?"

"Yeah…" She said bashfully. "Sometimes Ku— I mean— Shuichi walks me to the classes we have together…"

"You don't get along with anyone else?"

"Besides you, not really."

"But you're a celebrity here. Everyone glances at you in the halls."

"I know…but in bad ways…" She said a light blush tinting her cheeks. "I'm like a walking freak show in this country no offense or anything." She mentioned cautiously.

Masaya frowned. "None taken. Nonetheless let's go. I'll escort you to class." He then smiled optimistically.

Trisha smiled back, feeling as if he pitied her. She debated on whether or not she should ask him if he felt sorry for her, but she sucked the odd feeling up and stood up at the same time he did. The two began to walk to their next class, side-by-side.

-That Night-

Trisha dressed in tight black spandex pants that reached the tops of her knees, black pumas and a grey spaghetti-strap tank top. She tied her hair in a bun, slung her backpack over her torso and left her home without a word. Not that a word was needed at all, of course. Her cold "family" wouldn't care if she disappeared for a week. They didn't care when she was gone for a full day. Why would they care if she went out into the dangerous streets at night for an hour or two or three?

She walked to Kurama's house at a steady pace, enjoying the slightly humid and warm summer night. A warm breeze swept past her and she inhaled the somewhat thick (with pollution) air. She finally reached Kurama's property and spotted him sitting on the bottom of the few steps that lead to his front door. He was dressed in blue jeans, a black t-shirt and coincidentally, pumas. His hair was tied back into a low ponytail, enhancing his already handsome features. His green eyes fell down to her feet and he smiled.

"Great minds think alike." He stated, pointing out their similar tastes in footwear. She smiled in response. "Good evening." He then greeted properly.

"Hello." She greeted back. "Well. I'm ready. Will you tell me now?" She stated, bluntly skipping past the small talk.

He smiled. "Right down to business, I see." She blushed in response.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to be so straight-forward."

"It's fine. I was going to get right down to my point as well."

"Okay…" She responded shyly. He stood up and stretched, unintentionally flaunting his attractive masculine features. Trisha nearly punched herself for looking at her friend in "that way" but then wondered if it could be helped. A few moments later she realized that no matter what, Kurama was one hot dude, so most likely she was _always_ going to look at him in "that" light.

"Trisha?' He asked calmly.

"Yeah?"

"Ready?'

"Yes…I think…" She responded leisurely. Then her eyes widened in realization. "Wait you didn't explain yet!' She panicked.

"I did."

"Huh?" She asked blankly.

"I had a feeling you weren't listening." He said with a small frown of disappointment.

"I'm so sorry…" She sincerely apologized, as if she just ran over his dog. She frowned. She felt like sinking into some random hole in the ground. She couldn't pay attention to the hot guy because she was too busy thinking about how hot he was. Great. Just great. Nice going Trisha. You look SO awesome right now. She wanted to cry.

"Don't be so concerned. You seemed deep in thought. I'm sure whatever you were thinking about was important." He said sympathetically.

She was almost paralyzed with guilt. Here she was, so rude to him and yet he thought nothing but the best of her. She made a mental note to kick herself for her behavior later and paid attention as he repeated himself.

"Somewhere in this city is a flower, just like this one." He said and held out a blue flower. It had one single bowl-shaped petal with a yellow core at the very center of the petal. That part of the flower was attached to a thick green stem about 4 inches long.

Her eyes widened in curiosity. She had never seen a flower like it.

"Once I activate this flower with my spirit energy it will glow a bright blue color when you draw closer to its twin. The closer you are to its twin the brighter it will grow. Once the two flowers are reunited the petals will turn white."

"Okay…" She agreed, observing the odd-looking greenery in his hand.

"Your task is to find this flower's twin by midnight."

"What! I only have three hours to do that! Even less than that! That's impossible!"

"You would have had more time if you had listened carefully." He stated calmly.

Her mouth dropped. How could such a gentleman be so harsh; even worse; _politely _harsh!

"In addition, anything is possible if one moves quickly enough." He hinted with an I'm-going-to-have-fun-testing-your-limits smile.

"And if I fail?"

"You will continue to search for that flower beyond your time limit and accept an arduous punishment once both flowers are finally in my hands."

She stared at him in disbelief. He was…merciless… absolutely, no-joke merciless. "Arduous punishment"? Oh god, what would that be? Staying up for a week straight and running day and night with him for hours on end? Or was it possible that he'd do even _worse _than that to her? What if he WANTED her to fail? Maybe _that's_ why he was asking her to do something so impossible. Their city was ridiculously huge! Anyway, would he really sabotage her like that?

"You _swear_ there's a flower similar to this one hidden somewhere in this city?" She asked, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"Yes. I would not throw you into a wild goose chase, Trisha." Kurama replied with a calm smile. His eyes sparkled, as if he was glad her mind was questioning him.

"Is it inside anyone's house or is it out in the open?" she asked, hoping he'd give her a hint. .

"Perhaps, perhaps not. That flower will guide you." He responded mysteriously.

"I'll do my best. Now hurry up and activate this thing so I can get going!" She panicked, rather than arguing futilely for a hint. He smiled, pressed the pad of his finger against the flower's yellow core and pulled his finger away. Trisha spun in a circle. No reaction.

"You're kidding me." Trisha said in a distraught, hopeless tone of voice. Of _course _he placed the flower miles away from her start point. Why did she expect the flower in her hand to start glowing right away? For a moment she wondered what he meant by "sprit energy but didn't have the time to think about it. She made a mental note to ask him about it later.

"Trisha?"

"Yes?" She responded and turned to face him. He handed her a thin, black watch. The miniature digital clock on the band read: "21:18" in flowing red numbers. She had until 24:00, technically. He helped her put the watch on and tied it tightly, so it wouldn't slip off of her small wrist (she deducted then that it most likely belonged to him due to its size). Not knowing how to go about her search or how to get a lead on the flower's twin, she took a deep breath, closed her eyes and followed her gut feeling. It told her to go left, so she turned to her left and shot forward at full speed. As she tried to keep her breathing controlled and even she hoped the flower in her left hand would begin to glow soon.

Kurama watched his friend disappear down his street and smiled slyly. He took out a few seeds, let them fall to the quiet street, and murmured one single word:

"Go."

When he was sure his plan was in motion, he jumped onto his neighbor's roof and started after Trisha. He jumped from rooftop to rooftop, gaining on the brown-haired girl quickly. He slowed down a bit once she was in his sight and made sure he was undetectable to her ears or spirit awareness.

E:E::E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E::E:E::

Done! Whaddaya think!? Lemme know. Review!!!! Please? :[


	8. Petals

WEEDS CAN TURN INTO FLOWERS

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything that's already owned, copywrighted, patented already invented etc. You can't sue me now. I win.

CHAPTER 8

After about 5 minutes the flower began to glow a faint blue hue, just like Kurama said it would. She smiled happily, relieved that she had shot off in the correct random direction. She had no idea why but something told her to go that way. Was it her spirit awareness? She couldn't tell and didn't have time to distract herself by thinking about it. She only had till midnight.

Her body ached, but she still pushed through the pain. The glow of the flower began to fade and she stopped dead in her tracks. She turned to her left. The glow faded more. She turned in he direction she came from and the flower began to glow brighter. She took a few steps to her left and the flower began to glow brighter. She smiled and ran down a street. When she had to stop again she spun in a circle and turned down another street when she was sure of the direction she needed to travel in. She ran down that street and her jaw dropped when she ran into a cul-de-sac. It was a dead end street. Great. She snuck past someone's front lawn and into their back yard. She checked her watch. It was 9:27. Almost a half hour had past from her start time. The flower began to glow a bit brighter and she sighed in frustration. She would have to go _around_ the cul-de-sac. Great.

She ran down the street, made a left and ran down another street that ran parallel to the dead-end street she was just on. Bingo. She ran down the street and made it to some avenue, positive she was closer to the flower. However, randomly, the glow faded. Just like that: poof: gone: dead. It almost felt like when her old phone service dropped her calls out of nowhere.

"What the hell!" She shouted in frustration. Where was she supposed to go now? She was lost and the stupid flower wasn't telling her any— okay. She had to calm down. She took a deep breath. Patience, patience, patience. Maybe that was the lesson he was trying to teach her? She growled. It was still frustrating no matter how important his teachings were. A few seconds later her temper subsided and she became serious. She checked the time: it was 9:33. The stupid signal faded around 9:30. Not that that was important, but maybe if she failed she could explain that that was when the signal had faded, thrown her off and wasted her time. No. That was BS. There was no excuse. At least that's how he would treat the situation. She only had three hours and he was right, like he always was: if she indeed ran, thought, decided, and reacted faster she would find the flower within the time limit.

A serious expression made its way onto her face and she closed her eyes and focused for a bit. Maybe she could use that "spirit awareness" thing he was talking about. Didn't he explain that a couple of his friends could find things with it? How did they do it? Did they just ask it to work?

"Come on…where is the flower…you can do it…." She mumbled to herself. She pictured the flower in her head and she felt a gentle pinprick in her chest. She felt like she had to go left. Trusting her instincts, she went left and to her delight, the flower began to glow. She sped up—ignoring her aching muscles— and turned down several streets. Everything seemed to be going fine, but somehow she ended up in a frightening neighborhood that she would normally avoid unless looking for danger. She slowed down and massaged her aching throat, wishing she had stopped at a convenience store for a bottle of water. She calmed her erratic gasps for breath and walked around slowly. The flower's level of glow had not changed and she wished she had a map of the city she lived in.

She checked her watch. It was 9:45. She was getting better at this running thing. She turned down a street she thought would take her back into a safer neighborhood but it ended up being a dead-end street that was lined with abandoned storage houses. She heard something that sounded like a shoe stepping over broken glass. She snapped her head in the direction of the sound but could see nothing. Her heart began to pound faster and without realizing it, the adrenaline caused her to be more alert, and perhaps a bit paranoid. Her eyes scanned over the darkened broken windows, charred remains of wooden benches and broken toolboxes, finding nothing that could've made the sound. Again she heard it this time a couple feet ahead of her. Disregarding the slightly brighter glow of the plant in her hand she moved in the opposite direction, instinct telling her to escape the imminent danger.

As she ran she looked over her shoulder and WHAM! She slammed into someone. Why did that happen so often to her? She scooted back and looked up at her possible killer and to her absolute horror it was….a…..thing…. She didn't know what it was but it was definitely a _thing._ It was large, cloaked and smelled awful, almost like an unwashed old man. She could see scaly, large feet that were for some odd reason facing backwards. The creature was definitely facing forwards, since its tail was where it was supposed to be and it's eyes were red and watching her tremble. Absently she wondered what purpose its feet served. They were placed on backwards so weren't they useless? Maybe the creature was slow then…

If that's the case, then did Kurama count on this happening? Was this a sick joke he was playing? Was this a test? The monster's tail swooshed and she reacted a few seconds too late to the movement. She was swept aside and slammed into a brick wall. A few shards of glass were embedded into her skin and she shrieked in pain and fought back tears of agony. She tried to move. Ouch. She was bruised…awfully. She heard more crunching sounds and knew the beast was coming closer, probably going to finish her off.

She got into a pushup position, then into a mountain-climbing position and finally jumped to her feet. The creature growled. It's voice was deep and gravely. She decided she didn't want to know what it sounded like from the inside its stomach and she sped off, ignoring the pain in her rib cage, back, legs and arms.

But then disaster struck. She stopped dead in her tracks and her face paled in realization: oh no…she dropped the flower when she was thrown against the wall…. Oh no… she had to go back for it…

She turned around (fully aware of what she had to do) and saw that the beast was coming towards her as quickly as it could, which was pretty quick for a beast with defective feet. She said one last prayer, took a deep breath, and charged at the beast with a battle cry like no other. She tackled the monster, heart pumping a mile a minute and, surprisingly, knocked it down. She immediately got off of the floor and captured the helpless flower lying on the filthy ground. She ran straight ahead, hearing the beast roar into action behind her. She screamed, despite her still aching throat, and began to cry as she tried to speed up despite her injuries.

She felt like she was going to die and that wasn't just because of the pain she felt in her body. She was so afraid she felt her heart would give out on her. On a brighter note, the flower's glow brightened just a bit and she wondered if there was anyway she could get into a different neighborhood by maybe going _through_ the factories.

Determined, she hopped through a large and low window of a factory that seemed to have been burned down years ago. Upon entering the filthy remains of the building she coughed. It still smelled like burnt chemicals and she wondered if she could possibly become ill with lung cancer by being in there for too long. The windows on the other side revealed the brick wall of a building placed far too close to the factory she was in and absently she wondered if any people had died in the fire that occurred here. It seemed that the only safe exits were the windows that she climbed in through and perhaps a door in the far corner of the large destroyed room. She shuddered; the thought of ghosts scared her.

The factory seemed to be some sort of assembly-line type thing. Perhaps the workers put together toys or something of the sort. A rattling of chains startled her and she gasped and froze. The thing…could it have followed her? Maybe it could teleport? Whatever. She didn't have time to analyze everything. She ran up a metal staircase that was drilled into the brick wall to her left and shrieked when the rusted metal creaked and jounced in response to her weight. Once upon a time it could probably hold a large amount of people but at the moment it was barely able to support her.

What if it fell? What would she do? She shook her head and decided not to think about it. She almost reached the top of the steps when WHAM! The beast jumped onto the metal staircase. With another groan the staircase began to snap away from the wall. Trisha screamed and began to scramble up the remaining four steps as the beast scaled the distance between itself and her, breaking the rest of the staircase while snarling angrily.

Trisha reached the top of the stairs and made a left on a shaky catwalk. She grabbed onto the thin and rusty metal poles that held the catwalk up and moved as quickly as she could. The beast was too large to fit onto the narrow walkway so it would most likely fall if it tried to follow her, but she too would fall if she stayed on it. She finally found solid, cement ground and jumped in fright when she heard the metal staircase crash to the ground. There was no way back now…

The beast made its way to the catwalk and as Trisha predicted the monster's weight was too much for the catwalk to support and it and the beast both fell to the ground. When the catwalk was ripped from the cement it was attached to the solid haven beneath Trisha's feet shook and crumbled. She scooted back several paces and took in deep, uncontrolled breaths. When she was finally calm she peered down to the floor beneath her small sanctuary. The beast's body was limp and dead-looking. It was covered and resting in a pool of its own thick, green blood. She inhaled and exhaled deeply in relief and sunk to the cement floor. She hugged her knees and cried into them, thanking the heavens she was alive.

When her heart finally reached its regular pace she rose to her feet, swallowed the pain in her throat and then gasped when the glow of the plant suddenly burnt out again eliminating what little light she had to see with.

"What the hell is this!" She shouted in anger. "AGAIN!? You're gonna crap out on me like that again!?" She shrieked. She checked the time in frustration. The glowing digital numbers told her it was 10:00 on the dot (or rather 22:00). She growled. She had wasted a whole hour. WASTED.

"Is this freakin' thing just gonna go out every 5 minutes then!?" She shouted, still angry. When she was calming herself down, the magnitude of what she had just said struck her…. First the plant's glow went out at 9:30…then it went out at 10:00. Perhaps it was wired to go out every half hour? But that wasn't possible. If the plant was in one place and just went out at certain times she would be running in completely opposite directions to find it. He must be moving it from place to place somehow. Or maybe he was activating and deactivating several flowers in different parts of the city at different times. So in a sense she was running around blindly in KIND OF the right direction. Great. Thanks Kurama. You're awesome. And it only took her a whole hour to realize it.

Maybe he orchestrated the creepy monster too…but she couldn't be sure about that one. She really lucked out that it probably weighed a ton. In any case, if there was one of those things out there, there could be many more so she ducked into a door and ended up in a room that was pitch black, but felt somewhat stable.

The flower began to glow again and she grew frustrated. Screw it. He wanted her to use her spirit awareness so that's exactly what she was going to do. She couldn't see, so she carefully stepped and tried to find something stable that she could hold onto. She grabbed onto what felt like a dusty, dirty, old metal desk. She groaned and wished she had taken some hand sanitizer with her but kept moving anyway.

She finally reached a door, jiggled the knob and felt the door swing wide open. She gasped because when she could see what was beyond the door she saw that there was no room, no hallway, no platform: nothing. The door opened to nothing but air. She looked downwards and became slightly dizzy. If she had taken another step she'd be dead. She must've been at least 50 or 60 feet above ground…in a damaged, burnt factory that was about to fall apart too…just what the hell did she do to get there, exactly?

Her whole life practically changed when she came to Japan. She didn't know if she liked it or was soon going to resent it. In any case, why was she thinking of such trivial things at the moment? She needed to get out of her current situation.

She looked left and then right and spotted a bunch of windows. Beneath the windows was the roof of a shed. It seemed sturdy and was thankfully only about 20 feet off of the ground. She took a deep breath and hoped she wouldn't die doing the incredibly stupid thing she was about to do. The sensible thing would be to retrace her steps and maybe find some other _sane_ way out of the burnt factory. But she didn't have time for the sensible way. She checked Kurama's watch and it told her it was about 10:10. She had taken too long crossing the dark room, which wasn't dangerous at all, just frightening since she had almost no sense of sight at all.

She studied her only way of escape. The windows really weren't windows…well…not anymore at least. They seemed to have been blown out of their brick frame. They were about a yard wide and 2 feet long and were arched at the top. Thankfully the sill was on the outside, rather than on the inside and since it was brick it made it possible for her to climb downwards. But she didn't have any equipment…she was crazy. She was definitely crazy. What sane person went around climbing down crumbling factories late in the evening? She should be at home eating dinner and watching anime on her computer, not in this creepy and life-threatening situation!

But she smirked. For some reason this was exhilarating for her as well as frightening. Of course she was about to defecate kittens at any given moment but she also felt strong, and somewhat confident. She could definitely feel her self esteem rising. Her dear, spoiled sister wouldn't be able to escape a monster, travel through a dark, foul-smelling creepy room and wouldn't _dare _consider the possibility of climbing down a brick wall from 60 feet above ground. Hah. In her pretty little face. Trisha had finally somewhat gained something her sister didn't have and that thing was courage…or was it insanity? Whatever. She had it and she knew for a fact her sister didn't.

Anyway, back to the problem at hand. How on earth was she going to get to the window on her right? She couldn't reach over and gently transfer her body onto it; it was much too far away. The distance between her and the window was maybe 5 feet. That was a whole short person's height. Great. She'd have to jump and pray she caught onto the sill. Was her grip strong enough? Maybe, maybe not.

She panicked a bit, the adrenaline starting to rush through her veins, telling her to jump. There was no other way out. Maybe she could go back? Nope. No time. She looked back into the dark room and shuddered. Then she looked at the ground below her and shuddered even more. Either way could quite possibly get her into a mess she couldn't get out of. What if that creepy, weird-footed monster was still alive? She didn't want to travel back down there only to find that it was still searching for her and then waste even more time because she'd have to travel back to where she was now. That was like searching and re-searching an area for ammo in Resident Evil 4 while being chased by zombies: pointless.

She gulped, placed the stem of the flower in her mouth, took a breath and jumped. Her body flailed toward the window and for a moment she thought she would jump right into heaven. But luckily she caught onto the edge of the outer brick sill of the blown-out window and held on for dear life with both hands. She managed to get both feet firmly onto the bottom of the sill and one arm inside the window. Thankfully in that position she had a better grip on the wall and on her life. But to her horror the wall was unstable and began to move, as if her weight was pulling it out of its place and most definitely in the wrong direction! If the brick wall fell out of its place she'd be hurled towards the ground backwards. That's even worse than falling face-towards-the-ground because you don't really know when your head is going to hit the ground. You won't even know when you're dead.

Without thinking she let herself slip downwards and held her breath when she felt her foot touch the top of the outer brick windowsill of the window beneath her. Slowly she grabbed onto the edge of the windowsill to her left with her left hand. She repeated this process and eventually slipped (due to the unstable brick breaking when she placed her foot on it), falling on top of the shed, which wasn't as stable as she thought it was.

She grunted in pain when he rear end slammed against the roof of the shed and then shrieked as it caved in from the force of her fall. She grabbed onto anything she could and ended up dangling from a pipe, 20 feet above sharp objects…very sharp objects. This was where the factory kept their defective machines apparently…

"What now?" she thought, trying not to grit her teeth too tightly together. The last thing she wanted was for the flower to break and fall god knows where. She needed it to complete her crazy task, which she was probably going to yell at Kurama for giving to her later. She wasn't ready for this kind of torture yet. What was he thinking putting her in this situation! Then again…what would he say to that? She _did_ put herself in her current situation. It was _her _choice to run into the factory. She could have picked up the flower after she dropped it and tackled the monster as it got up, or evaded it or something… She sighed, defeated by her own logic. There was no time for regrets now.

Her arms were beginning to go numb and her grip was slipping. She craned her head to her left and right and spotted the cockpit of some sort of construction machine. It was like those big yellow "CAT" brand machines she saw on the side of route 46 and the parkway during times of construction— only it looked much more dangerous. She was going to terribly regret her next move…terribly. However, the roof of the cockpit was high enough for her to safely _drop_ on.

"If I ever get out of this situation alive I hope Kurama is merciful enough to at least heal the worst of my injuries…" She quietly prayed. She then took a deep breath, eyed her newest destination and swung over. She screamed as her body somersaulted out of control in the air due to the surprising force of her swing.

"NOOOO!!!!!!" She screamed, fearing for her life and for the flower that had just fallen out of her mouth. Her shout was cut short when she fell face-first on top of the large yellow machine. She made it. And she was alive. And her ribs weren't broken, but boy did they freakin' hurt! She rubbed her jaw, slowly and groaned. She had gained another wonderful bruise.

Remembering the lost flower, her heart dropped to her stomach and she searched around for its whereabouts with her tired eyes. She spotted the bright blue glow somewhere to her left. The flower seemed okay, thankfully. But would _she _be okay? How on earth was she supposed to get out of a _shed_…a big, _locked _shed…?

She rolled her eyes and checked the time. It was 10:29. If her prediction was correct, the flower would stop glowing in just a moment. She memorized exactly where it was in the pitch-blackness (just incase) and then (as she assumed) it's glow faded completely. She sighed. Now all she had was the small bit of moonlight coming in from the hole in the shed to guide her. She rolled her eyes. Great.

With a pained sigh she slid into the cockpit of the machine and then stepped onto the metal step that was supposed to help the construction worker hop into the leather (and torn, but sealed with duct tape) seat. She held onto the frame of the machine with her tired left hand and felt around for solid ground. She finally found it and released the machine that had helped her save her life. With a grunt she hit the floor, falling on both hands and knees, thankfully avoiding the other sharp objects in the room (like the sickles and pick-axes hanging on the walls) and the other defective or broken but equally dangerous machines. She felt around for the flower and her fingers finally brushed against its stem. She grabbed it and shot to her feet.

For a moment she debated on whether or not she should pick a tool off the wall and use it as a weapon (just incase) but then again if she ran into people later looking as dirty, bruised and messed up as she did they'd think she was some lunatic murderer that had escaped an asylum. They'd most likely call the police on her…she would if she were in their position. She sighed and decided to use an axe that she spotted in order to escape from her current prison. Maybe she could chop out a wall or a door or something.

She felt numb, as if she was desensitized to the fear she felt. She picked up the axe and yelped in surprise as it fell to the ground, almost cutting the big toe of her right foot off. She didn't expect it to be so heavy. She pulled it out of the hardened dirt ground that it had gotten stuck in and dragged it along the ground as she looked for an exit.

The sound of the axe scraping against the ground gave her the chills and had adrenaline pumping through her system even though she knew she was the one making the creepy noise. She shivered as she imagined her situation being one that was worthy of a horror film, perhaps even some insane zombie flick. She shuddered. Zombies scared her _much_ more than demons.

Zombies were infected. Sick. Disgusting. But most of all: hungry. Demons (as far as she knew) were just evil (most of them anyway) and according to what she _kind of_ saw Kurama do, definitely killable (in more ways than one, of course). In order to kill a zombie you have to take their head clean off (either by decapitation or something through their brain…spinal cord…whatever) and there's usually more than one around so if you pause for a second while fighting them off you can kiss yourself goodbye. But as far as she knew demons usually worked alone and were very powerful. She could at least kick one in the shin to cause him or her pain and run away or something and have a better chance at survival. Plus she _is_ 5% demon. She could probably even make friends with one that was planning on killing her…if that was even possible.

She finally reached a door and to her relief it was made of wood. She took the axe into both her hands and shakily angled her body, so if she swung with all of her force the axe head would lift off the ground and break into the wood of the shed doors. She tucked the flower into her bra strap, gripped the wooden handle of the axe and grunted as she swung the axe with all her might.

As she predicted it lifted off of the floor and surprisingly went clear through the wooden door. However, it was now _stuck_ in the door, thus defeating her original purpose. She sighed tiredly. She didn't know how long her body could keep going. She checked her watch. It was 10:40. She still had time. Why she even cared about her task after everything she had just been through: she didn't know. Something was telling her to keep going…to not give up and to actually _enjoy_ the things she was accomplishing, so she stopped her complaining and listened to whatever was telling her these crazy things and continued to work on reaching her goal. She huffed, puffed and exhaled once more and with another strained grunt ripped the axe out of the wooden door, taking a chunk of the wood with her.

She fell on her rear end and groaned in pain, but when her eyes landed on the hole in the door that she had made she smiled, silently cheering. She stood up and stepped on the wood that was still attached to the fallen axe. She pulled the axe out of the wood and swung it in the same spot again. Thankfully she didn't miss and when she pulled the lodged axe out of its captivity she again took another chunk of wood out with it. She dropped the axe and kicked out one more chunk of wood and ran out into the night. She made sure she still had the flower in her bra strap and smiled at her small success.

She gripped the flower in her hand again and began to run. After going through a maze of brick walls she ran into something she thought she'd never see: zombies. Nasty-looking, green, mushy _zombies!_ She almost dropped the flower in shock as they moved towards her, slowly, quietly moaning. She took a step backwards and unfortunately forgot the way she came from. Why were they _green_? She didn't know. Why were they naked and genderless? She didn't know. Why did their hair look like seaweed? She didn't know. What were they doing here? She didn't know. Was the world under attack? Again, she didn't know. But she let out a short, quiet shriek as they inched forward and ran the opposite way.

The zombies picked up speed but were still a safe distance behind her. She breathed heavily, panicking uncontrollably. Her worst fear had just come to life. Zombies. They were real. Demons. They were real. Ghosts. They were probably real too. Aliens? She wasn't too sure, but heck why not just go ahead and assume they _are _real? This situation: real. Her heart beginning to ache from racing so quickly: real. Her fear: real. Great. None of this was a dream.

She picked up speed and saw a metal fence that reminded her of the one she had in her backyard as a child only it was much taller. Momentarily she wished she could have brought her axe with her (of course to fight the zombies that were in her way), but then again it was too heavy for her to wield as a weapon anyway. Her body slammed against the fence once she reached it and she began to climb it. Not too long after she began her ascent towards (hopefully) safety, the zombies slammed against the fence and to her horror one of their cold, icky hands grabbed onto her ankle and attempted to drag her downwards. She screamed and grabbed onto the fence for dear life.

That zombie was strong…really strong. She screamed again and flailed her legs, hoping she could keep her grip on the fence. After several panicked kicks and adrenaline-filled motions the zombie's slimy grip slipped and she wasted no time climbing up the rest of the fence. She quickly climbed down half of the other side of the fence, tearing the leg of her pants in her haste, and slipped on a zombie's fingers (that were inconveniently poking through the holes in the fence). With a startled yelp she fell the rest of the 5 feet from the cement ground right onto her back. She breathed heavily and wasted no time scooting away from the zombies and the fence they were stubbornly pushing against.

She took in several quick breaths and exhaled just as quickly…and loudly. She backed against a brick wall and checked to see if the flower was okay. Its (thankfully) thick stem had tooth marks in it, crescent-moon-shaped nail marks in it and small dips in it from her hands grasping onto it tightly.

In order to calm herself down and stop her now flowing tears from escaping her already dehydrated body, she wondered if the condition of the plant was of any importance at all. What if she brought it back to him with its one bowl-shaped petal torn or something…would he be mad? No. Kurama wasn't the type to get mad easily. Disappointed: yes. Mad: no.

In her opinion disappointing someone was much worse than making someone mad. When someone's mad they're yelling at you or doing things to make _you_ mad or sad. That makes you resent them and not care about what you did to make them angry in the first place because now _you're_ mad at _them_ for making _you _angry. But when someone is calm and just _upset_ at what you did or didn't do…that gets you. No one's screaming. No one's blaming you. No one's trying to hurt you back. You just feel awful for failing that person simply BECAUSE you're aware of the fact that you failed them without anger clouding your thought process.

She sighed, finally calm. Of course her heart was still beating quickly, she was soaked with sweat, blood and tears, every inch of her body ached and she was mentally and emotionally exhausted, but overall she was calm enough to get up and keep moving. She found herself in an alleyway and could see a road in the distance. She broke into a run towards something she hoped would be familiar and escaped the quiet helpless moans of the zombies.

She finally reached the street and basked in the glorious orange-yellow light of a street lamp, incredibly relieved. She began to cry tears of joy but then stopped when she realized she was still in a bad neighborhood. If she woke someone unfriendly up she'd be dead and this time by someone completely out of the supernatural. That would just suck. She escaped a giant, reverse-footed monster, a bunch of zombies, conquered a collapsing factory and an old shed…but got killed by a gangster. Awful ending to a story so exciting.

She exhaled, calmed down and continued to run out of the awful neighborhood, not caring to consult her spirit awareness first. When she finally reached a park in a peacefully quiet neighborhood where she could only hear the crickets chirping she fell back onto a wooden bench and held her head in her hands. A few stray tears escaped her and again she forced them back. She shakily took off her backpack…an important and useful item she had forgot she was carrying because of her stress and panic. She rummaged through it and found a water bottle she had stored in it before she left her home.

She laughed in relief and unscrewed the cap. She took one sip and one sip led to two sips and two sips led to three _gulps_ and soon she realized she had downed half of the water bottle. When she pulled it away from her lips she sighed happily. Once her thirst was quenched the aching in her dry throat almost completely subsided. She threw the water bottle back into the backpack and then noticed her phone in the small side-pocket. She checked it: no texts, or calls. Should she give Kurama a call? No. She'd hysterically complain if he asked her if she was okay, which he'd most likely do. That was out of the question. She checked the time. It was now officially 11:30. She only had a half hour left to find the flower's twin…or else.

-Kurama-

He watched from a rooftop as she sat on a bench, looking as hellish as he expected her to. He saw her fall scrape herself up and run from danger so many times. She was doing exactly what he had wanted her to. Everything was going according to plan… more or less. Now it was time for her final test. He hopped down to an alleyway near the park and activated the last flower. She had a little under a half hour to retrieve it from the worst possible foe in the worst possible condition…

-Trisha-

All of a sudden he glow of the flower in her right hand grew as bright as the flash of a camera. She shot to her feet and gasped as her heart began to pump as quickly as it did when she was being chased by the zombies. When her shock and paranoia had passed she realized that she was definitely, undeniably close to finding the flowers twin! Finally! A stroke of luck! Her spirit awareness guided her to a dark alley. Her eyes narrowed as she spotted a glowing blue light…surrounded by other small glowing yellow lights (that were coming from odd-looking plants)…that were surrounding Kurama…who was holding the glowing blue light…which was the flower's twin. … … … … wonderful.

She stared at him, dumbfounded. She didn't know how to react. Should she be angry? Disheartened? Betrayed? She accidentally glared at him. He was dressed in the same, neat blue jeans, black t-shirt and un-altered black pumas. His hair was still tied back into a low, neat ponytail and not a hair was out of place. She must look disgraceful. Her spandex pants were torn and ripped in several places and soaked with blood. Her grey spaghetti-strap tank top was in the same condition. She was covered in dirt, ashes, dust, sweat, blood and zombie-slime and her hair (previously in a neat bun) was a disheveled mess. Maybe she would look cooler if she had used her head a bit more…

"You…can't possibly mean to tell me that all this time… you had one…" She trailed off, hoping he'd finish her statement, which he did with a silent, calm nod. She sighed and fell to her knees. He had one of the blue flowers this whole time. THIS WHOLE TIME.

"I've been watching you." He began calmly. "I watched as you escaped my imitations and hauled yourself out of situations most would scream and cry for help in."

"That sounds like praise. Does that mean that I can give you my flower and pass your test?" She asked with a pleading look on her dirty, tear-stained face. Kurama gave her a mysterious, subtle smile.

"By now you should know that it will never be that simple."

She sighed. "So you want me to fight you."

"I want you to complete your task."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"What was your task."

"…To find the flower's twin."

"And afterwards….?"

"Bring it back to you."

"In what condition?"

"Um…a good condition…?"

"Incorrect answer."

… … … … …

… … … … …

… … … … …

"Um…."

"What did I want the flowers to look like at the end of all of this?"

She thought back to the beginning of her hellish night and finally it dawned on her. He wanted the petals to be white.

"You want them to have white petals!" She shouted her epiphany. He nodded.

"And how do they turn white?" He asked, staying on topic.

She thought back again. They had to touch and then they would turn white. She smirked. She knew what she had to do. All she had to do was poke his flower with hers. But of course he'd make such a simple task difficult.

"Before we start…those zombies…" She mentioned worriedly and fearfully. He chuckled.

"The 'zombies' and the monster you saw were just being brought to life by imitation seeds. They're just imitations of monsters I have seen in the past; completely under my control. They are most likely gone without a trace at this point. You have nothing to fear."

She exhaled in relief and took off her backpack. She threw it to the side and assumed a ready-for-anything stance. She began to wonder how on earth she was going to get those flowers to touch…

E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:

Done! Please review and tell me what you think! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	9. Claustrophobia

WEEDS CAN TURN INTO FLOWERS

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything already owned, patented copywrighted etc. So keep your lawyers tight on their leashes.

CHAPTER 9

Should she run at him? No. That's stupid. Where did she learn to never run straight at your opponents? …Some anime…She couldn't recall at the moment. Okay so what else was there to do? She could tackle him…but that would require running at him…he was definitely quicker than that. Trisha frowned. Kurama was so graceful with everything he did and she was a brute. He was swift and she was slow. He was elegant and she was blunt. Where he would slyly attack, she would obtusely try and probably fail.

The facts she was analyzing were beginning to depress her and drain her of the small amount of stamina she had left. She told herself to do her best and with one last yawn she jogged towards him following instinct only. Setting her plan in motion, she stopped just two feet away from him, made a fist, pretended to punch him in the face, stopped short and sent her attack sailing towards his abdomen. She saw him smirk, spin 360 degrees out of the way of her attack, and (when he had completely turned around and was facing her back as she was stumbling) push her shoulder hard enough to knock her down on her hands and knees, thus causing her to scrape a few layers of skin off of her already wounded body (even through her spandex capris).

She stared at the dirty concrete of the alleyway. She wanted to sleep. No. She wanted to go home and take a shower…and then sleep. Why was he making this so difficult? He knew she had absolutely no way of defeating him. So why? Was he testing her capabilities? Wasn't he aware of the fact that she _had no capabilities!? _

She hauled herself to her feet and sluggishly turned to face him. He was standing straight…not a hair out of place. It made her angry. All her life she was put down by kids in school, family, teachers; everyone. They all made her feel like they were above her. She was tired of it. With an angry grunt she lunged at him.

He allowed a look of pleased surprised to blanket his expression and permitted her to knock him down with the force of her lunge. She was now sitting on top of him, her blue eyes filled with rage, her teeth gritted tightly together. She made a fist.

She didn't know what overcame her. She couldn't think. All she remembered was the sudden and unexpected anger she felt and then: blank. She glared at her opponent and swung at him, but the force of her punch diminished when she slowed down as a wave of guilt washed over her. She dropped her arm and exhaled bluntly.

All of a sudden everything became clear: Kurama. She was sitting on top of Kurama ready to bash his teeth in with her fist. His eyes looked expecting. Her arm slumped further to her side and she sat there with an apologetic expression on her face.

"I'm sorry…I didn't know what came over me…" She apologized.

"I wanted you to hit me." He revealed calmly. Her guilt was momentarily replaced with shock and she climbed off of him trying to calm the blush on her cheeks down.

"What do you mean?" She asked when she sat next to him. He smiled, shifted his body into a relaxed sitting position and turned to face her.

"It's called understanding your opponent." He stated. "Their movements…expressions and believe it or not even clothing all give away what is in their mind." He explained.

"What are you trying to say?"

"You have anger that you lock away daily. Your anger then mutates into something less fearsome, but equally dangerous to yourself: impatience. Haste. That hinders your ability to think clearly in a situation and thus hinders you in making a proper decision."

"Okay…" She said slowly, her questioning eyes urging him to explain further.

"I had hope that you'd unleash your anger upon me."

"And then get better at all this training you're putting me through?" She finished, hoping her guess was correct.

"Precisely."

"Because I'm impatient and releasing my anger would benefit my training and my mental health...?"

"That's correct."

"That was…really insightful…" She said, dumbfounded. "You're really good at problem solving… That's really cool. I would've never guessed…"

"You don't feel anger?" He asked in response.

"Not really…I mean I was really mad when I saw your expression and that's the first time I've been legitimately angry at someone in a while. Everything else is just either hurt, betrayal, sadness or annoyance…but never anger…last time I got into a fight with my sister wasn't "anger" for too long…I felt betrayal and pain pretty quickly after my initial reaction…I don't know…maybe it was anger the whole way through… it's hard to tell sometimes…" She revealed. His eyes became contemplative and he became silent for several moments.

"…In other words you repress your feelings…" He stated when his pause ended.

"Yea I guess you can say that."

"Please stand up." He calmly instructed.

"Um…okay…what about the flowers?" She asked, hoping he wasn't going to do what she thought he was going to do. He spoke when they had both climbed to their feet, one more gracefully than the other.

"Their relevance expired many moments ago." He said with a smile.

"So I can go home now?"

"Of course not."

Yeah. It was never that easy.

"What do you want to learn from me." He stated more than asked.

"Um…how to fight the right way, I guess…"

"Then answer this... how can one fight when they cannot run: the first instinct that arises when in a life-threatening situation." He stated more than queried.

"…I'm assuming they can't." She replied.

"Precisely. Without agility and a clear vision of an escape route one cannot possibly hold his ground against an opponent who is faster…stronger…more knowledgeable in regards to his surroundings."

"Okay…that's true…" She agreed. He was right. Again. Like he always was.

"And answer this as well: How can one fight without being able to sense his opponent's next move?"

"They can't…" She said, hoping she was right an that he'd explain in greater detail.

"Precisely. Without the ability to determine your opponent's next attack you are fighting a blind and one-sided battle."

"Okay…that's right…" She once again agreed, his explanation making sense.

"This session was a test of many things: your stamina, your patience, your ability to think on your feet, your ability to solve riddles, your strength, your will, your tolerance of pain, your emotional capacity, your spirit awareness and your demon blood." He revealed.

"What do you mean?" She asked, wanting him to explain everything. In that moment he was the perfect teacher. The perfect teacher is the kind that you WANT to learn from…the kind that keeps you craving more of their knowledge on a subject.

"Stamina and will I have no need to explain. If you had fallen and given up throughout your task you would have failed. However you continued to race towards your goal despite your condition. My imitation seed beasts tested your ability to make the best possible decisions in any situation in a short amount of time. That is an area we need to work on. You could have easily stepped into your grave on your adventure through the abandoned factory. The flowers and their continuous failure to glow tested your ability to solve riddles. That being said, did you solve the riddle?"

"Yeah. I had a couple theories— one that you just disproved actually…"

"By all means unveil them."

"Well the one you disproved was the one where I thought you were traveling with the flower's twin. I thought that every half hour you would move to a different spot in the city. But since you just mentioned that you saw me in the factory and that you've been watching what I've been doing that's obviously not the case. You can't be in two places at once…I think….right?" She wondered. With Kurama anything could be possible. That's probably the first thing she learned from him.

Kurama chuckled. "As of yet, no I am unable to be in two places at once." He confirmed.

"Okay well the second theory that I was leaning more towards anyway was the fact that there must have been multiple flowers spread out in different areas of the city and that you were somehow activating and deactivating them… and that you were making me run around in fruitless circles…" She mentioned with a deflated, annoyed look on her face. Kurama smiled in response and nodded.

"Again we must work on the rate at which you solve riddles such as this, but your theory is correct."

"Stop calling me slow." She said, disheartened and frowning. He shook his head.

"You are not slow. But when on the battlefield you must figure out your opponent's strategy within the time span of several moments. In this challenge you did well, but in other challenges you must do even better."

"Okay…you have a point, but give me some credit, here. I tried really hard." She gently argued.

"You did and that brings me to explain the tests of your strength and your demon blood and how they relate to each other."

"Go on…" She urged curiously.

"On several occasions you've had a spike in the amount of strength and force you used."

"That was just adrenaline…" She flatly denied, somewhat doubting her own words. He shook his head in response.

"Your demon blood aided you much more than you know. You were in a stressful situation. However, to your advantage, you have a strong mind. You were able to take control. That is when your demon blood activated. This brings me to your tolerance of pain as well. Your demon blood enhanced your abilities; slightly, yes, but that slight bit of aid allowed you to pursue your goal and ultimately reach it."

"Oh…that never even crossed my mind... like I said I thought it was just the adrenaline…"

"It mostly was. You pushed yourself through tonight with only a _slight _bit of aid from your demon blood." He repeated himself. That's when her mind jumped back to her memory of hanging from the pipe in the shed she fell through. She had swung her entire weight with so much force that she had flipped over 360 degrees mid-air…and then ungracefully flopped on top of the construction machine afterwards. Then she remembered how quickly she climbed that tall fence when running from the zombies…and also the time she was able to tackle the large, reverse-footed monster…when it must have weighed a lot. Kurama had a point…like always.

"Yeah…you're right…again…" She agreed with a slight nod. She felt…awkward. As if she didn't know herself anymore. She felt…odd…even more different from others than she usually was… it made her uncomfortable and she frowned. She felt her connection with the rest of humanity slipping slowly.

"Is something wrong?"

"I think so…" She responded honestly.

"May I ask what?"

"I just feel weird that's all…"

"I understand." He said sincerely…maybe he had been through the same struggle. She yawned, now too tired to even care. Her vision blurred, then cleared. That wasn't a good sign. She needed sleep. Now.

Kurama noticed her tipping back and forth, then saw her stumble forward. He swiftly steadied her and then took her into his arms (of course to her embarrassing surprise).

"You don't really have to carry me…" She yawned with a slight blush on her cheeks. "I can get home on my own, really…" She tried to convince him. He chuckled and shook his head.

"I am the reason you're in this awful condition. The least I can do is carry you home if you have the inability to walk. Furthermore we live in the same area."

She didn't know how he balanced being a threat and a gentleman so well. He was dangerous, but gentle; kind, but a brutal critic; a skilled fighter but a poetic peacemaker; a killer, but a healer…a human but still a demon. It was charming and she prayed she didn't fall for him any harder than she already knew she did. He was Botan's after all…

She felt a pinprick of sadness and perhaps even a little bit of that anger (that she now knew she needed to release). Then there was nothingness: as if her heart didn't care. She felt him begin to walk. She wished she could walk. If she could she'd haul herself to the park and maybe even take his subtle hint and punch a tree to release her muddled feelings.

That brought her to a curious question: Why was she so angry? … Was it the way her family hurt her? Was it the way she was daily tortured in school almost every year of her life? Or was it because she wanted to be happy but knew it wasn't her place to reach for that happiness? Maybe it was all of those things… Again Kurama was right. She had let everything build up and that wasn't good.

"Get my backpack…please…" She asked politely, keeping her conflicting emotions out of her voice. He chuckled.

"One step ahead of you." He charmingly revealed.

She forced herself to focus on the situation and her eyes zeroed in on his arm, the one that was tucked beneath her legs: she saw a black strap across it and at that point she assumed she was too tired to notice that he had bent down and picked it up with her in his arms. The guy definitely had some serious skills…she'd fall over if she ever tried something like that. Again she felt herself not caring and dozing off. She thanked him and then fell into a half-asleep-half-awake state and remained in it until she felt herself being placed on a soft bed. At that point she fully woke up and realized that somehow Kurama had entered her home…without tripping the alarm system or waking her family... She must have looked confused because he smiled, as if he was reading her mind.

"I have many talents." He stated a mischievous smile on his face. That one simple statement, when it came from him, explained everything. She raised her eyebrows in understanding. He raised his hand and tiny vines began to sprout from the sleeve of his t-shirt. They traveled down his arm and then into one of her wounds. She squeaked in pain despite her drowsiness and watched as the forest green plants picked out all the gravel , dirt and glass in each of her wounds.

When he was done picking out all of the debris lodged in her body, he gently rested his hand on both of her shoulders and added a bit of pressure, signaling her to lay back. Trusting him, she did, and he proceeded to heal her. She smiled as she felt her pain leaving her. When he was done she frowned. He had left all of her muscle pain and weariness, so she still partially felt like a corpse. Great.

"It still hurts…" She tiredly whined, hoping he'd feel bad and heal her aches, but instead he smiled.

"What is that famous saying that rhymes in your native language." He again stated more than asked. She sighed, annoyed.

"No pain…no gain." She responded in English and frowned. All attempts at negotiation were futile with him…always, but he was always right so she decided to suck it up and go with the pattern he weaved for her.

"Precisely."

"Okay then…I'm gonna haul myself over to my shower…I don't want my bed smelling like a corpse… She said and hoisted herself up with a grunt of pain. Her muscles severely protested the idea of walking. She looked at her bathroom door on the opposite wall of her room and gave a small, short sigh of despair: it was going to be a long and grueling walk to her destination…it was so far… But on the bright side, the hot water may actually ease her pain so she sucked it up and shakily stepped out of bed.

"Would you like me to walk you there?" Kurama asked, a concerned tone to his voice. She looked up at him and smiled. It was her turn to give a sly response.

"No pain, no gain, right?" She responded, rhyming in English and finishing her sentence in Japanese. He chuckled and nodded, delighted at her perseverance and humor, which matched his ideally.

"Your bag is next to your nightstand. If you need me please don't hesitate to call me." He mentioned. She nodded and smiled, then began to shuffle in the dark towards her bathroom door. When she looked back at him he was gone, as if he had never been there in the first place. She looked over to her open window and understood that he had left. She smiled to herself, impressed with his stealth and eventually reached her bathroom door.

-Next day-

WHAM!!!! She shot up into a sitting position with a startled gasp. Her whole classroom (minus Kurama) laughed at her. She took three startled gasps of breath and turned red. She glared at her sexually charged math teacher and stared her down.

"Did you sleep well?" Her math teacher asked "sweetly".

_"No, because I had an awful nightmare about you." _She wanted to say.

"No." She replied instead.

"Then go to bed earlier and maybe you won't fall asleep in my class, Everton." Trisha grit her teeth at the sound of her last name. The teacher smiled at her ("sweetly") and turned around. She sashayed towards the front of the classroom, cleared her throat and continued her lesson.

"That was awful…" Trisha mumbled to herself.

"Shhh…the last thing you want is for her to pick on you again…" Kaito kindly warned. Trisha smiled. He was a sweet nerd. Kaito and Kurama were actually the only two guys in her math class that respected her and watched out for her. It made her feel better to think about her allies and she straightened up. She caught Kyoko smirking at her smugly. Trisha sent the rude girl a glare and tried to find the page her math teacher was on in the textbook.

-Lunch-

She and Kurama sat at a table in their school's courtyard. They were under the kind shade of a cherry blossom tree and they ate in silence.

"How are you feeling after last night?" Kurama asked when he was done sipping his soda. Trisha swallowed the chunk of rice she was chewing on, took a sip of her juice and gave him a deflated look. It was sweet of him but did he really have to ask? He_ must_ know that she feels awful. He made it so she _would_ feel awful.

"Wrecked. I feel like I got hit by a car. I can only imagine what I would be feeling like right now if you _hadn't _healed everything else."

Kurama smiled. "That's what training is about. Part of it is fortifying your physical endurance."

She yawned. "It's also about sleep deprivation." She stated when she could finally speak. Kurama chuckled.

"What if you had to stay awake through the night to prevent yourself from being kidnapped by a horde of demons? And, hypothetically, if you were ever in that situation how would you defend yourself if you had no experience fighting under harsh circumstances such as sleep deprivation?"

"Okay, okay. I get your point, master Myagi. I'd find myself in the back of a white truck in under 5 seconds if I wasn't used to something like that."

Kurama smiled and nodded. At least she didn't argue like Yusuke would… Kurama had to admit, thinking of Yusuke made him want to go visit the former detective and make sure he was all right. Demon world was a very harsh environment after all, even though it seemed as if Yusuke adjusted fairly quickly despite being half human.

"How are things going with your boss?" Trisha asked after a few peaceful moments.

"He is under the impression that I'm watching you from afar. He doesn't know the depth of my involvement in your life."

"And your friend who was going to erase my memories?"

"He's in demon world. He has no time (or desire for that matter) to see anyone. Hence Koenma assumes I managed to get him to erase your memories and isn't bothering to look into it."

"For such a powerful guy he's really irresponsible…" Trisha said frankly. Kurama chuckled at her expression. She looked like she pitied the infantile prince, but at the same time thought he was pathetic.

"In any case our secret is safe for now." Kurama mentioned.

"Kura— I mean— Shuichi!" Came a cheerful voice. It sounded like Botan. Trisha wanted to frown but kept her composure. The blue haired girl showed up wearing the same red pleated just-above-the-knee, borderline-mini skirt, short-sleeved white button-down blouse, red button-up long-sleeved jacket with a black bowtie and black, low-chunky-heeled May Janes that Trisha was wearing. However, Botan, like all the other girls in Meioh private University, wore her uniform properly. Trisha could see why, though. Her blue hair was enough to attract attention. The last thing she needed was trouble from the teachers about her uniform.

"Hey, you! I don't mean to be an awful bother, but I need you to come to your job for a moment. The boss wants to speak with you about that _botanical _project you're working on…" Botan explained with a slight urgency in her tone. Trisha had to admit: Botan was good. If Trisha had no idea what was going on, she'd definitely be fooled by the blue haired girl's story.

Kurama gave Trisha an apologetic look. The blue-eyed girl closed her eyes, smiled, and shook her head, letting him know it was no big deal. He smiled in response, she smiled back again and he took his trash and left with a kind "See you later". Again, not many words were needed between the two. Trisha sighed and wondered if Kurama would ever tell Botan how he felt about her. Maybe if he did and she accepted his feelings Trisha could let her heart rest for a bit.

She sighed and continued eating alone. Absently she wondered where Masaya was. She had a training session with him soon, too, didn't she? She frowned. She really didn't want to train with him. It was sweet of him to offer but she felt somewhat nervous…really nervous. She was getting that weird feeling in her chest that was probably her spirit awareness. Deciding not to concern herself too much with the off feeling she stretched and threw out her trash. She felt her phone vibrate in the pocket of her long-sleeved jacket. She took it out and speak of the devil… it was a text message from Masaya.

"Hey there. Meet me at the dojo tonight at 21:00…that's 9 pm for you, right? Anyway, training session 1 starts tonight. I hope you're ready. =]" The text said.

"I'm ready. I'll text you when I'm on my way there later tonight. Thanks for the notice." She replied. She slid her phone shut and placed it back into her pocket. The bell toned and she began to walk towards her next class.

-Later that night-

Trisha dressed in black calf-length leggings, a black v-neck t-shirt and a pair of black pumas. She tried her hair back into a long ponytail and slung her backpack over her torso. She sent Masaya a text message, telling him that she was on her way and left her house. She shuddered while walking in the dark. Memories of her awful night with Kurama's zombies and monsters flooded her mind. She had to stop doing such crazy things for the love of training her body. She passed a park…the park that she first started training with Kurama in. And saw the last thing she ever wanted to see…

-Kurama-

He caressed her shaking body with his arms and held her firmly. Botan was currently in the middle of a very private and very rare emotional breakdown. Koenma was overworking her and being unsympathetic to her needs. She had also lost some friends to a demon that was hunting ferry girls down and feeding off of the energy of their pure souls. The reason why Kurama was called into Koenma's office was to investigate this demon and make sure it was either dead or not a part of Ren's plan.

"I'm so sorry Kurama. I'm such a bother but I really had no one else to tell. Yusuke doesn't listen, all Kuwabara ever wants to talk about is Yukina, Keiko's too busy sulking about Yusuke and Hiei never listens to anyone!" Botan tried explaining. Kurama smiled, a slight blush on his face as he took in the blue-haired girl's scent.

"It's quite all right Botan. You're not a bother at all. You carry a burden that's far too heavy for most people and still manage to smile and improve everyone's mood on a day-to-day basis…I'm flattered that you decided to talk about these things with me anyway…" Kurama gently assured. Botan's sobs seemed to calm down and soon turned into slight sniffles.

"Thanks so much Kurama…it was really sweet of you to sit through my awful complaining…"

-Trisha-

She was leaning against a tree about a block away, unable to get the sight out of her head. She felt…disheartened…sad…pathetic… She hated feeling like that about someone and being let down. In fact, it even brought her confidence down. Now it seemed as if Botan was prettier…smarter…cuter…etc. Trisha growled and clenched her fist. She fought back her negative thoughts, striving for a neutral state of mind.

"Such a dismal yet pure soul…" She heard a rumbling voice speak. She jumped, since it was right behind her. She spun around and with the crinkling sound of fabric everything went back. Someone had put some sort of sack over her head. She tried to flail her arms in hopes of at least whacking her opponent and tried to scream at the same time. When she felt nothing she tried to run…then tragedy struck: she realized she couldn't move. No matter how hard her brain tried to force her limbs to move they wouldn't move…

She panicked, one of her worst fears coming to life… she felt claustrophobic…is this what it felt like to be a victim of a horrible car accident? She wanted to cry but couldn't; not one cell in her body allowed her tears to flow.

"Stop struggling…you couldn't kill a fly if you had the chance anyway…" The deep voice deadpanned nonchalantly. Whoever he was he was right. She hated killing things. Maybe it's because she could put herself in the poor insect's place. Every living thing had a purpose…except for mosquitoes. They just killed people with malaria and sucked blood. How would she feel if someone stepped on her and ended her life? Boom. Dead; just like that. It wasn't fair. She felt weak and defeated but she fought on anyway, forcing her limbs to move. It was no use.

"Ah, what a fiery spirit you have… You're special aren't you…I like souls like yours. You'll give me a nice dose later on."

_"DOSE? What the hell!? What kind of freak self-medicates himself on SOULS!?" _She panicked.

"Now go to sleep…I have to take you home and season you…"

_"SEASON!? What is this thanksgiving!? I'm not a freakin' turkey!" _

Her mind slowly began to shut down, bit by bit. She struggled to keep it functioning but she became lost in her panic and despair that whatever wanted to overcome her ended up overcoming her. She blacked out and her mind never registered that she was unconscious.

E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:

Okay that's the end of that chapter!!!! Review please and let me know what you think! Sorry about the long wait. 


	10. Poison

WEEDS CAN TURN INTO FLOWERS

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything already owned patented copywrighted etc.

CHAPTER 10 (This one is somewhat of a filler BUT the good part is towards the end!)

When her mind began to function again she came to the realization that she _still_ couldn't move. Again she felt as if she were going insane from fear. She felt as if she was dying, her own body functioning as a tomb and nothing else. She felt a pressure against her mind. It felt as if someone or something was _squeezing_ her mind. She didn't know how, but she pushed back. She imagined herself pushing the pressure away and somehow it worked.

"Pathetic creature. Why won't you let me consume you?" The voice from before sounded. This time the man sounded bitter and angry. She didn't care. She fought harder, "pushing" the pressure back further and further. As her battle raged on she heard a smooth voice speak.

"Found you…" The new man almost purred. She heard slicing sounds and the first voice began to scream.

"NO! HOW DID YOU GET IN HERE!?" Her captor (the first voice) screamed.

"Your barrier only works against weak demons. You are a greedy gluttonous fool if you thought you wouldn't be caught."

"P-P-P-Please! Don't kill me! I'll do anything!"

"Anything?" The smooth voice asked mischievously.

"Anything!" The frightened man responded.

"Then die." The smoothe voice answered. She heard more slicing sounds and a final scream from the first voice. She then heard a spine-chilling thud and could smell blood and death thicken in the air. The pressure disappeared and she curled and uncurled her numb fingers. She began to cry in relief as she opened her closed eyes (so _that's _why she couldn't see) and zeroed in on an absolutely gorgeous silver-haired, tall, muscular man with some sort of dog ears and a tail…wait…DOG EARS AND A TAIL!? She yelped in shock and fear and fell off of the chair she was apparently seated in.

She could feel the blood draining from her face as he gave her some sort of smirk. She couldn't tell what it meant. She then began to blush. She had no idea that death could be so beautiful….yet so hideous….she thought as she averted her attention to the massacred unrecognizable dead body laying in pieces on the floor next to the beautiful man who would be taking her life.

Her heart pounded a mile a minute as the man took several slow steps towards her. She swallowed hard and figured she looked like a frightened idiot to him. Her chest heaved up and down as she turned her head to the side and squeezed her eyes shut. She felt the man gently place an arm underneath her still numb legs and around her back. Her kinesthetic sense told her she was being lifted and that she was no longer upright. She opened her eyes and nearly fainted at the sight of this man's eyes. They were golden and not filled with any killing intent.

"I Think I'll let Shuichi sleep for a little while longer…" He mischievously murmured to himself as he looked her over. She felt as if he was undressing her with his eyes. She quickly became embarrassed and crossed her arms across her chest. He smiled and took off into the foul smelling woods. The smell and the dismal horror-movie-set-like forest they were sprinting through told her that they were in demon world. When she recovered from her shock she began to wonder how this man knew Kurama. He was talking about the same red-haired, green-eyed "Shuichi" right?

"Um…" She stumbled shyly. He glanced at her then back in the direction he was running. She felt as if she had his undivided attention even though he was doing something else.

"How do you know Shuichi? I mean, red-haired green-eyed Shuichi…right? The one who's called 'Kurama'?" She asked, almost certain they were talking about the same Shuichi.

"I am Shuichi…somewhat…" He responded calmly.

"No way you're Youko Kurama!?" She spastically unveiled, completely forgetting her shy nature for a shocked moment in time. So he had _fox_ ears; not _dog_ ears…

He nodded. "You may call me Youko if you wish." He offered.

"So Kurama's…inside you?" She asked, looking at his chest as if Kurama would pop out of it any second. He nodded.

"Somewhat. The process of us swapping places is very difficult to explain."

"Okay…" She responded slowly. "So why isn't Kurama the one coming to the rescue?" She asked curiously. He smirked playfully.

"Is my presence an issue to you? If it is I'd happily revert to my human part." He teased.

"No! No. No… you don't have to do that…" She responded, starting her sentence off frantically then ending it calmly and quietly in mortification.

"There was a barrier that your captor erected around his territory. Any human who passed through it would dissipate. Shuichi had no choice but to morph into me." He explained.

"Oh… Well thank you for saving me." She responded. He nodded and continued running. Trisha assumed everything was okay and began to relax but all of a sudden Youko spun in the air (Which made her yelp in surprise), twisted around, spun again in some direction she couldn't tell and landed on the foul-smelling green-black forest floor. When she opened her eyes and loosened her grip she noticed three men dressed as ninjas (with the stereotypical black masks and everything…oh wow) standing about 20 feet ahead of him. She looked to his left and saw that he had dodged several shiny and lethally sharp weapons.

"Oh…my...God…" She breathed. He gently set her down, took her wrist and guided her behind him. Like a frightened child, she followed his lead with little resistance.

"Whatever you do, do not move from this spot no matter how dire the situation becomes." He commanded. Oh no…the situation was going to get dire. She could already tell.

"Give us back the weapon and we will not harm you or your woman." The first ninja (in the middle) stated in a cold, calm and authoritative tone of voice. She blushed. They assumed she was his girlfriend. Was she really pretty enough to be considered such a good-looking guy's date?

"Not a chance." Youko responded with a defiant smirk. The ninja raised his right arm and the battle (blurry and barely visible to her) began. Weapons were flying everywhere, several scary-looking plants sprouted from the ground, and many skin-against-skin thumping sounds echoed around the area they were in. All Trisha saw was silver, white and black blurring and meshing together. If the tension in the air weren't so thick (and if there weren't deadly objects flying past her ears and face) she'd find the scene in front of her to be an anticlimactic light show.

As she tried to decipher what was going on, following the blurs into trees and bushes then back out into the clearing, she saw something shiny and silver out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head towards it and gasped. It was a ninja star coming right at her but of course she was too late to realize that. She squeezed her eyes shut and waited for impact (or death) but it never came. She opened one eye…then the next and saw something that nearly broke her heart. Youko had used his hand as a shield to protect her. He was nicked and cut in several places and was scanning the area with suspicious, golden orbs.

"Y-Youko you didn't have t—

"There's one more." He interrupted and leapt into the trees. As he took off, a single drop of warm crimson blood fell onto the skin of her forearm. It sent chills and bumps across the entirety of her body… the man had bled for her…

Her surroundings became eerily silent and her spirit awareness began to kick in. Something wasn't right. She tuned into the natural sounds of the forest they were in and listened for any crunching sounds. Everything was just…..quiet. She felt alone. When her lonely feeling passed she became frightened. Her body ached terribly and she knew she couldn't put up much of a fight if anything happened.

More time passed by. She almost felt as if she was dozing off to the dull buzz of the insects. Minutes ticked by and felt likes hours. How long had she been standing there? Was Youko okay? If by some miracle he weren't okay how would she get back home? And how would she tell someone that something terrible happened to Kurama? Maybe Botan would pop up out of nowhere (as usual) and she could confess everything to the blue-haired girl? …..Maybe…..

What were those ninjas complaining about again? Something about a weapon? They made it seem as if Youko had taken their weapon or something. Actually…Youko didn't seem to deny any of their accusations either. He had to have some killer testosterone to be able to do say something like tha— WHOAH!

She screamed, startled and afraid as a large weight knocked her down. She opened her eyes and there was Youko's remaining enemy. She was sure her attacker could feel hear heart thumping through his pant legs as he immobilized her by pinning her shoulders down with his knees. She winced as she felt her shoulder bones and collarbones strain under the weight of the man sitting on top of her.

He took some sort of a knife, raised it above her head and before her mind could process that he was about to kill her he slumped over. Dead. A very tired and wounded Youko came out of the bushes and looked like he might've just flicked something at the ninja's back. She began to panic and squirm. There was a dead body sitting on top of her. Ew. Creepy. Youko trudged over and kicked the man from the side, allowing Trisha to sit up, rub her aching shoulders and scoot away.

"Is he d-d—

"No. All three are alive. If I had killed any of them more would come, sensing their comrade's deaths…I didn't expect them to be this difficult to defeat." Youko explained as he dropped to the disgusting forest floor. That's when Trisha noticed that something was definitely wrong. Youko was pale (paler than when she had first seen him). His breathing was heavy and he was beginning to perspire.

"Are you okay?" She asked worriedly. He gave her a tired deflated look as if to say: Do you really have to ask? She frowned in response to his wordless answer and looked him over again. His glassy eyes attempted to focus on her. When she noticed his struggle to focus she became even more worried about him.

"What happened?" She asked instead of panicking. If she panicked, he'd panic, right? Besides, she needed to know the situation to be of any use in it.

"Their weapons are laced with large amounts of an odorless poison. I couldn't pick up on it. That is why ninjas from demon world are so dangerous. In any case they managed to cut me several times. Though the wounds are small and harmless, enough poison seeped into my bloodstream to sicken me."

She couldn't speak and stared at him with a worried expression. He glanced at her, laughed through his strained breaths and hung his head. She blushed, but not because he had just laughed at her. His fox ears were cute (and sort of slumped over showing his fatigue) and he had a charming laugh.

"I noticed the second time I was nicked…" He murmured his voice serious yet again. He looked at her once more and his golden orbs became foggy and his eyes slowly closed. She gasped as he fell to his side with a chilling thump.

"No…no. Trish, this is not happening… Crap... … It's happening… Get a hold of yourself." She told herself strictly, the panic evident in her voice. She crawled over to Youko and turned him over on his back.

"Youko?" She asked and shook him slightly. He wasn't responding. Tears welled up in her eyes.

"No…..you're _not _dead." She said in a determined tone of voice. She pressed her ear against his chest and to her shock and dismay his heart wasn't beating at all. She pressed her thumb against his wrist, then against his neck (like she learned in first aid, junior year of high school). No pulse. He was technically dead…technically. Do dead demons _still breathe_? It was an awkward, frightening and strange situation. She didn't know what to do so she pinched herself, slapped her cheeks twice and put a determined expression on her face. She was going to take care of him. He was still breathing so even though he had no heartbeat he had to still be alive…right? Maybe she could even save his life.

"Okay." She said affirmatively and stood up. "Let's stop freaking out and do this." She looked around and found a bunch of thick bushes behind several large trees. She looked at the (hopefully not) dieing Youko once more before she ran off in the direction of her hiding place. She stepped into the tall thick bush and nearly shrieked when she saw an unconscious ninja laying in the tiny clearing the bushes had formed a circle around She covered her hands over her mouth and waited for her heart to calm down. She had to be strong; not for herself this time, but for someone who had been strong in order to save her life. She took a deep calming and sickening (because of the smell) breath and shoved her arms underneath the black-clothed man's armpits. She grunted as quietly as possible and began to drag him out of the tiny clearing and through the tall, thick (and foul-smelling) bush. She stopped halfway to catch her breath, relax her aching muscles and then gritted her teeth and continued to drag the ninja out of the area. She huffed and dropped the ninja's torso when he was a considerable distance away from what she claimed to be her territory. Men were heavy. Demon men were probably even heavier. She looked over at Youko, who looked like a helpless, fallen angel, and glared at him. She wouldn't mind struggling with him mainly _because _he was so handsome. Stupid handsome fox demons…

She straightened up and stretched, preparing her body for its newest task. All that muscle was going to be difficult to haul over… With that in mind she sprinted over to Youko and began to wonder if she could use another method to drag him over there. She shrugged and rolled him over so his back was to the treetops. She then took his left arm and slung it over her neck and shoulders. She held his wrist and wrapped her left arm around his torso. She stood up to her fullest height and began her arduous task.

His clothes were so white… For a moment she felt bad about dragging his lower half through the foul-smelling grass and dirt (thus staining his outfit) but what had to be done, had to be done. She stopped about halfway to her destination and took a breath. How would she get the poison out of his system anyway? She shook her head, deciding not the think about that at the moment. What was most important was finding some cover so no other carnivorous demons and creatures could sink their teeth into either of them.

She finally completed her 11-foot journey and laid Youko face-up on the forest floor. She wiped the sweat off of her forehead and wondered what she would do about the ninja right outside her safe haven. He was unconscious but what if he woke up? She smacked her forehead, sighed in annoyance and stepped out of the small territory she claimed for herself.

She began to roll the man's unconscious body and eventually moved him a good distance away from where she was planning on staying (if he awoke he would probably find them anyway but it put her mind at ease). She sprinted back to her fallen angel and assessed his condition. Ragged breathing. Cold sweat. Pale skin. Bleeding wounds. She'd have to address his blood loss first. The small wounds had already scabbed over and the only remaining wound she had to bandage was the wound on his hand. That injury was her fault. She should've been able to dodge the ninja star. He must've taken a large dosage of poison by saving her pathetic hide... Couldn't he have maybe smacked it out of the way with a plant or something? …Maybe he didn't have time to do that? The poor guy…she had bothered him and probably caused his death! He was protecting her at the same time that he was fighting for his life… If she hadn't been so stupid as to walk around alone at night this wouldn't have happened!

Guilt overcame her and she punched the forest floor. A nasty, thick scent rose up from the ground and she gagged. Ew. Disgusting. She probably couldn't trust the water around here either so washing his wound was out of the question. She could always suck the poison out, right? No wait, didn't they teach her NOT to do that in first aid? Crap. She forgot. No wait. That was somewhat effective for snake venom. But for poison…? She grew frustrated and frightened.

She inhaled, exhaled and almost gagged again and then took off her shirt. She made a hole in it with her teeth and then stuck her finger through it. She eventually made the hole big enough and managed to rip the whole bottom half of her shirt off. She ripped her shirtsleeves off the same way and debated on whether she should keep the remainder of her shirt for herself or find other uses for it. She shivered and then wondered how awkward it would be if Youko woke up and she was in her silky black bra in front of him…weird.

Of course an attractive man like that has definitely had better but still…she didn't want anyone seeing her intimates under any circumstances. Making her decision, she put the now v-neck sleeveless belly shirt over her head and tore the thickest strip of material in half. She used that strip of cloth to bandage her patient's wounds and then wiped his sweat off with one of her shirtsleeves.

That's when the wait began. He was still breathing (though raggedly) so that was a good sign, right? …He would survive this, right? ….Yeah? No? Maybe? She growled. This wasn't right. Neither of them should be in this grim situation. She yawned and held her head in her hands. Then she straightened up and studied Youko's features. He looked young, but mature. She eyed his fox ears and ran her fingers across them. They were soft, but cold. Her eyes widened and her heart dropped to her stomach. She placed the back of her hand on his cheek, his neck, his shoulder and his chest. He was cold _everywhere_… She shook her head in order to prevent herself from panicking again. She wasn't just going to sit here and watch as he died. She had to think of something.

She had to find water. Water would help him. He grew up in such a terrible place, right? So he must be used to the water and whatever way it is. She'd boil it too just to make sure. She had a plan. Step one: find a container. Step 2:Find water. Step 3: make fire. Step four: Boil water. Great. Would she get caught, though? If she were to leave there'd be no one to care for him. She grabbed her wavy brown hair (which had somehow gotten loose from its previous ponytail) and gritted her teeth.

"Okay Trish. Chill out and think. How do demons find things? How to animals in general find food?... … …" She paused for a second. "Smell. Sense of smell… … … do demons actually eat humans?... … … stupid question." She responded to herself with a deflated look on her face as she remembered the reason why she landed in demon world in the first place.

"So If I smell like a demon I'll be less likely to be caught…" She affirmatively said to herself. Okay she had a plan. But now how does she end up smelling like a demon? She was going to cry as the answer hit her and she glared at the forest floor.

"Oh god…" She whispered as she held her breath and began to roll around in the disgusting grass. She made sure her hair, face, arm pits, legs etc. were all moistened with the discharge that came from the forest floor. As she patted herself on the back for not vomiting she took some of Youko's drying blood off of his skin with her fingertips and spread as much of it as she could on her neck, wrists, ankles, legs and stomach. When she was sure she smelled absolutely disgusting she set out and searched the ninja she had rolled away from her small territory. She patted him down and felt a small, hard object near his side. Feeling disgusted and hesitant at sticking her hand down the unconscious enemy's shirt she felt around the cold, rough torso until she eventually curled her fingers around a small round object near his lower back. She pulled it out and it was silver and cylindrical and had a cap that was screwed onto it. Bingo. Though it was empty, it was a thermos-like object that served as a water container. Well, ninjas had to stop and take a drink _occasionally_… She smiled as her miniature success.

Now where would she find water? Just as she was about to consult her spirit awareness, she heard a groan coming from the bushes. Youko! That must be Youko! She ran into her hiding place within the bushes and found Youko trying to sit up. She fell to her knees at his side and pressed her fingertips against his shoulders. She put a bit of pressure on his shoulders and he looked up at her, refusing to lay back with a slightly confused look in his eyes. She glared at him.

"You're sick and injured. Don't tell me "no"." She warned in a strict tone of voice. Youko's glassy honey orbs gazed into her blue pools. The fox smirked, knowing she was an emotional wreck on the inside. She did put up a good front, though. He had to give her credit for that.

"I'll be fine." He said in a raspy, yet still smooth tone of voice.

"You're poisoned. Don't joke around." She chastised firmly. " Now, you know about your situation more than I do. Tell me what to do…" She trailed off worriedly, her voice begging him to guide her. "Do you need water? Is there any type of medication you have on you?" She asked, her sad expression earning a smirk from him.

"You're worrying is useless. My body is capable of fighting the poison. I haven't died yet so I should be fine."

She glared at him. "Then tell me how to make this _easier _for you. How long will this last? Can you give me _something?_" She pleaded. His mischievous smirk didn't leave his face. She was humoring him. That made her want to punch him.

"Stop smirking. This isn't funny! I thought you were going to die you jerk!" She shouted as frustrated tears threatened to fall from her eyes. Her fingers, which were gently touching his shoulders, were now furiously gripping the fabric of his tunic. "This is serious!" She urged when he didn't respond.

She had no idea that she had gotten so close to his face when she was yelling at him, but his eyes slowly closed and she became nervous and began to blush. He slumped forward and kissed her very gently with whatever strength he had left, then fell into her lap. Her breaths became short, quiet and quick as she stared at the surrounding bushes, unable to comprehend what just happened…He just kissed her…His lips were very soft and he was very gentle…

When her shock passed her she shook her head. She looked down at Youko and his glassy golden orbs were half-lidded. His breathing improved but he still looked like a dying animal. His eyes shifted and met hers. She felt a blush spring up onto her cheeks and prayed for it to leave.

"There is a river nearby. On the bank of that river there is an herb I want you to find." He took a couple of deep breaths and coughed. "The herb is green and the underside of its leaves and the very bottom of its stem is purple."

"Poison ivy?"

"No, but it looks very similar to it. It will not cause an irritation if you touch it. The river is just 1 kilometer north of where we are right now."

"Okay…um….which direction is north again…please?" She bashfully asked. Thoroughly embarrassed, she refrained from asking how far a kilometer actually was. She was terrible with estimating distance. Great. He kissed a panicky AND stupid girl. At least, that's what he must be thinking. He smirked and pointed behind her.

"It's directly in that direction. Walk in a straight line and do not make any turns or stray in any other direction. Do you have something to carry the water in?"

"Yeah I just picked something off of a ninja…" She responded, hoping he didn't think she was stupid.

"Smart girl…" He weakly complemented. She blushed slightly and nodded. Okay, so maybe he didn't think she was stupid. Thank God. Then again, why did it matter so much to her? He was Botan's, just like Kurama was. After all, they are the same person, technically, right?

"What do you want me to do with the herb and the water once I have them both?" She asked, putting herself back on topic. She really had to stop thinking about him and Botan together…it was beginning to drive her insane and distract her from the important aspects of life…like saving Youko's life…

"Crush the herb against the bottom of the container filled with water. That will release the plant's toxins into the water and once I drink the mixture it will act as an antidote to the poison in my system…" He explained.

"Okay I'll be right back. Do you need anything else?" She asked.

"No. However, please hurry, Shuichi has suspected something. If he completely awakens, takes control of our body and morphs back into himself he will die instantly. The poison will travel through _his _blood and kill him."

"Okay. I'm going to put you on the ground now. Ready?" She asked. He nodded and winced as she gently lifted him off of her lap. Every time he moved his body burned. It didn't matter if he was tapping his finger on the ground or trying to sit up, his body felt equally horrifying pain.

Her hand became stuck underneath his shoulder and she struggled to pull it out. He gave her an apologetic look and she jumped to her feet once she was free. She picked up the metal basin that she dropped and ran back to the clearing. Once she was sure of the direction she was supposed to head in she took off, hope and purpose pounding alongside of her heart.

Youko smiled. For a human that girl was pretty smart. She went as far as disguising her scent (in which she did a pretty good job). He took a heavy ragged breath. He had to admit, he lied to her a tad bit. Just a tad bit…the poison _is_ actually killing him. Thankfully (since he wasn't moving around too much) it wasn't spreading as quickly. The fact that he woke up and was able to tell her exactly what to do was a miracle in itself. Nonetheless he knew he was in good hands. He could tell just by looking at that girl that she was doing everything in her power to care for him. Shuichi was a damn fool. That was the conclusion that he came to when his eyes closed and he slipped into unconsciousness.

-Some time later-

When he awoke he was covered in leaves and Trisha was kneeling down next to him, asleep. Day had turned into night in the demon world and he could hear the wild crickets chirping. Unfortunately their chirping was a signal that food was nearby. Trisha's disguised scent could fool a low-class demon but it couldn't fool an insect, which functioned differently in order to find its prey. Nevertheless he felt better. He raised a tired hand and took a strip of warm, wet cloth off of his forehead. He could smell the ashes of an extinguished fire nearby. Again she unknowingly displayed her intelligence. If she kept that burning throughout the night she'd be (quite literally) dead meat in no time at all. With the fire extinguished (and strategically placed outside of the perimeter of their hideout) they were less likely to attract attention. She must have boiled the last bit of water, soaked the cloth and placed it on his forehead not too long ago. He noticed that she also trickled some water down his throat as well, since it was not parched at all (though by this time it should have been).

He couldn't smell much blood in her fingertips, which meant that it all rushed to her heart in order to keep it warm through the night. It was foolish of her to leave so much of her (very attractive) body exposed. He smirked. If he kissed her stomach she'd definitely wake up and become warm all over… but he had to put his devious plan aside. The girl was emotionally, mentally and physically worn out. But then again it would probably be refreshing to wake up to something like that, no? Well he knew _he'd_ like to wake up to someone kissing him… but perhaps this wasn't the time and place to find out if this girl enjoyed such a thing as well.

He curled and uncurled his fingers. His body heat had returned and the toxins in his blood had nullified each other. His muscles were just extremely tired, which was a side effect of the herb he had ordered her to use on him. Overall she did well. He'd have to give her a "gift" for her diligence later… The thought made him smirk to himself. He wondered how this girl would react to his skill…

Putting that thought aside, he tiredly sat up and gently touched her shoulder. She mumbled something incomprehensible and then her (still tired) eyes slowly fluttered open. She gasped, jumped in freight and put her fists up in defense, but then she seemed to understand what was going on when she saw him and relaxed. She smiled brightly in relief once she witness that his condition had improved.

"You did well." He complemented, rather than thanking her. He wasn't one to thank or apologize to others.

"I'm glad you're okay..." She mumbled tiredly and rubbed the sleep out of her left eye. It became evident to him that she must have fallen asleep shortly before he had woken up. He took a seed out of his hair and poured his energy into it. It grew into three large, thick leaves. He began to shuffle to make a makeshift bed to give her a comfortable place to sleep but she stopped him.

"Relax. I'll do it." She said confidently. She was proud of herself. He could tell. He handed her the somewhat heavy plants and allowed her to do as she pleased. When she was done making the bed she gestured towards it, as if trying to say "go ahead make yourself comfortable". He shook his head. She didn't understand him.

"You first." He commanded.

E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E::E:

HAHAHAHAHHA cliffhanger! :] now you must review! Please? :3


	11. Fib

WEEDS CAN TURN INTO FLOWERS

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything copywrighted, patented, already owned, etc.

CHAPTER 11

"Huh?" She responded, confused as to what he meant by his simple command. What the heck was he talking about "you first"? What's that supposed to mean? The bed was for him. _He_ was the sick one.

"You're cold." He explained.

"Oh… That's not a big deal. I'll be okay, really. You're still sick. You relax."

"I am in fine shape. You, however, are not." He pressed.

"What are you talking about, I'm okay!" She protested slightly annoyed at the fact that he refused to believe her.

"You are pretending to be okay. Perhaps even you are unaware of the chaos in your own mind….?" He replied silencing her. She looked down. How on Earth did he know she was scheduled for a freak-out once she was home alone? He was right. Her mind was going nuts but even she wasn't aware of it because she was turning it off, somehow. But wait. What did her mind have to do with her being cold and getting in bed with him!

"That has nothing to do with it." She finally responded, looking him dead in the eyes with a determined look on her face. He gave her an annoyed look and before she knew it he had pulled her down onto the giant leaf and kneeled over her fragile human body. Her heart thumped wildly in her chest. She was shocked, surprised but most of all afraid. She calmed down as thrill replaced her fear and adrenaline pumped through her body.

"Isn't that better…?" He whispered into her ear as he released her wrists and slipped in between the two large leaves. She smiled to herself, but not because she was happy to be in the situation but because she was happy that he had regained his body heat. That meant she had done well and that he was going to completely recover. She turned to him.

"How do you feel?" She asked genuinely concerned.

"Tired." He responded and scooted closer to her. Like a pill bug, she seemed to close up into a ball in defense and turned her eyes away from him. He smirked to himself. This was going to be fun. He snaked his arm around her bare midsection and smiled at the soft texture of her skin. It was like silk…cold silk… He let his tail fall and curl over her waist and upper thighs. She became as stiff as he did when he was aroused. He wanted to chuckle. She was funny; most definitely a maiden.

"What's wrong?' He sensually whispered into her ear, putting as much concern in his voice as he could so he wouldn't sound too much like a lecher.

"N-nothing…" She breathed. He gently brushed his fingers over her midsection and belly button. He saw goose bumps crawl across the skin of her neck and arms and smirked.

"Are you positive?" He whispered, causing her to shiver.

"Yes…" She mumbled shyly. "Just cold." He noticed a scratch on her neck and pressed his lips to it. Again she shivered and froze.

"You poor creature…what have you suffered on my behalf…?" He whispered against her cut skin. When he witnessed more goose bumps he kissed the already scabbing cut, thus healing it completely, leaving no trace of any disturbance.

"Not much. Go to sleep. Didn't you say you were tired?" She asked in a resistant tone of voice as she gained a grip on herself. Oh, now she was getting feisty. Good…there was some fight in this girl...

"Mmm…It seems that I have some energy left…" He revealed mischievously as he ran an index finger down the curve of her midsection, exploiting the soft skin he touched. She slapped his hand and turned to face him.

"No." She said straight to his face. He looked at her eyes. She was afraid. Though, it didn't seem as if she feared him. She feared what he was doing to her... what he was making her body do… Well…she definitely succeeded in making him feel like the rear end of a low-class demon in _that _sentence.

"Relax." He commanded gently then held her close to his body. She shivered again, but this time because of the rapid transition from cold to warm. Her fingers brushed against his chest and she blushed. Never had she touched a man so strong so intimately. Deciding to take advantage of the warmth he offered, she snuggled into him and pressed the side of her face to his shoulder. He seemed to relax as well and she smiled.

"Thank you…" She whispered against his neck. She felt his body slightly shiver and blushed. What on earth did she just do to him? What on earth was she doing in bed with a guy she barely knew anyway!? Thinking about her situation made her panic and Youko seemed to sense it coming from her.

"As soon as my body has rested I will be able to release Shuichi. It should only be a few hours…" He comforted, a slightly disappointed tone to his voice. Boom. She felt awful, as if she had just insulted him. She was stupid. The man she had a crush on (technically), was giving her the attention she wanted from him. Why was she complaining?

"I'm sorry…I'm just not that kind of girl…" She mumbled figuring out what must've been on his mind.

Youko smirked. "I want to see the day you become that kind of girl…" He said huskily.

"I'm not ever going to be that kind of girl. Period." She firmly stated.

"Women vastly change when they lose their virginity… you're aware of that…right?"

"Jerk; who're you to guess whether I'm a virgin or not!" She shouted in embarrassment and punched his shoulder. Youko hissed and pulled back "in pain".

"Oh my god I'm so sorry, Youko!" She exclaimed in an apologetic tone of voice. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry!" She apologized as she cupped her hands over the lower half of her face in shock. What has she done! She tried to look at the foxes turned face. He was silent and she could see his lips curved into a frown.

"I'm so sorry….I totally forgot…" She breathed. Her eyes were watering…she felt awful… Then she saw a playful smirk make its way onto the fox's face. She could feel her nerves slowly snapping like rubber bands stretched far too tight. He chuckled and she glared at him, unaware of how to disguise her stress. That jerk…he was messing with her the whole time!

"Forgive me…" He said in between chuckles. "I had to do it."

"That wasn't funny." She stated unhappily and crossed her arms across her chest. He turned back to her and cupped her chin in his hand. He passionately kissed her and relished in the sound of her heart racing inside her chest. He loved making her nervous. In fact, she was the first human he dealt with like this. She was far different from a demon woman. Demon women were as lecherous as he was. Their hearts never raced like this girl's and often times they knew exactly how to push his buttons and finally get him to snap. Sometimes they skipped the button-pushing entirely…

But this girl was far different. She refused to let him have his way. He could see she wanted him to see her in a different light first. She wanted to prove to him that she was different. It felt like she was a gift that he was forced to unravel. What would he find under those endless layers of gift-wrap? Just as he was about to pull away from her heated lips, she kissed him back, thus causing him to continued kissing her. She kissed him back, causing him to involuntarily wrap his arms around her small body. He almost smirked against her lips. She was so opposed to him seconds ago…what made her change her mind? Perhaps she needed some sort of physical outlet for her stress, but not one as intense as intercourse.

If he could shrug he would. It didn't matter to him. He was fine with her reaction. Hopefully he could get her to do more… He allowed his hand to stealthily slide up her side further and further until finally she dug her thumbnail into his wrist, signaling him to stop. He did stop…in that area. His hand slowly slid downwards. When it reached the top of her pants she made the worst mistake…ever… She grabbed his ear and twisted it. He groaned at the pain and pinned her down, earning a quick, quiet gasp from her.

"You have no idea what you're doing…" He chastised, finding himself unable to glare at her shocked face. He didn't want to take her against her will, but she was definitely (and accidentally) pushing him to _make_ her WANT him to do something like that.

"No…I don't…" She replied honestly, a slight frightened tone to her voice. He looked down at her and into her averted blue orbs. So _this _is why Shuichi finds human women attractive. They're so frail…like angels compared to himself (a demon). Shuichi…that kinky bastard… He kissed her neck gently and refrained from nipping her skin. She blushed and grabbed a lock of his hair in reaction, forcing him to apply more pressure on her neck. He began to smell a sweet scent that trickled through the overpowering scent of demon world on her body. Her innocence was seductive. Did she understand what was currently happening to her body…to _his_ body? He was almost 100% positive that she was clueless and it only made him want to teach her what she didn't know.

"How far do you want this to go, little angel?" he whispered into her ear then kissed down her neck and shoulder.

"I don't want it to go anywhere…" She honestly replied. He stopped kissing her just above her breast and looked at her. She looked back at him, her eyes filled with sorrow and guilt. Did she have to look at him like that? _She _wasn't the villain in this situation; _he _was. He sighed, released her wrists and laid down next to her. He turned away from her and the silence between them became awkward. She stared at the back of his head and at his broad shoulders…what should she say…?

"I-I'm sorry…" She apologized awkwardly.

"You have no reason to apologize." He responded calmly. She watched his tail swish back and forth rhythmically and wished she could see his face. Okay, maybe she _didn't_ have to feel so bad about turning the guy down… He was definitely a lecher but by no means was he a dirt bag… She smiled in relief and admiration of Youko. He was definitely a gentleman underneath all of his perversion.

"Thank you…" She responded gratefully. For a moment all movements between the two ceased, as if someone had pressed the "pause" button on a video game. Slowly his tail curled around her waist and pulled her closer to him. She blushed as her body pressed against his firm torso…and backside… Was there _any _part of his body that _wasn't _toned? The fur of his tail was so warm. It was like a coat. She smiled at the softness of the fur. It reminded her of the softness of a baby blanket. Holding something so soft always made her happy.

"Keep warm…little angel…" He instructed, rather than saying "you're welcome". She smiled. He was definitely going to behave himself. She wrapped her arm around his torso and began to fall asleep. She smiled. Youko was like a giant, toned teddy bear…

-Later-

She awoke to striking, vibrant green eyes gazing at her. When she gazed back, she saw a blush on the other person's cheeks. He kind of looked like Kurama…weird…she could remember having a dream about Kurama…something about a soul eater and Youko and— MOTHER OF PIRATES what was Kurama doing laying down next to her, holding her!? She gasped and pulled away from him and he willingly released her. Before she even realized it she was in a kneeling position about two feet away from him, blushing madly. He was red in the face as well. Youko…that bastard… this was his plan…

"Um…uh…it was cold…and— She stuttered, unaware of how to explain what happened to her crush.

"No need to explain. Have you by any chance fed my other half a green and purple plant within the past 24 hours?" Kurama asked, flexing his (probably sore) fingers and arms.

"Um…yeah, how'd you know? Were you awake?" She asked worriedly…if he _was _awake during all of that she'd never live what happened between her and Youko down.

"My body is incredibly worn out and my temperature has increased by several degrees, yet I have no fever. Those are the side effects of the plant you gave Youko. I'm assuming he was poisoned?" Kurama asked, his blush finally fading.

"Um…yeah…" Trisha admitted sheepishly. Kurama seemed to notice something and reached into his tucked in white t-shirt beneath his zipped-up black hoodie. He pulled out a small, round red ruby. As he closely studied the small jewel his green eyes widened in realization.

"We need to leave. Immediately." He urgently informed.

"But you're not rested enough!" She protested, her embarrassment giving way to her concern for his overall health.

"If we don't leave this second both you and I will be resting for the rest of eternity…" He warned in a serious tone of voice with a stern expression on his face. She shivered at Kurama's words. If it were anyone else saying those words she'd be less afraid.

"Okay…" She skeptically agreed. He almost inaudibly groaned as he rose to his feet. Her mouth dropped.

"Are you kidding me! You can barely stand!" She shouted.

"Shhhh!" He hissed and put a finger to his lips. "Stay as quiet as possible and do not protest." Heinstructed, afraid they'd be attacked any moment.

She glared at him. Was he _joking_? In this situation it would be smarter if _she _were the one to carry _him _around! He glared back at her and for a moment they were locked in a silent battle. When neither relented, Kurama picked Trisha up against her own will and shot off into the forest, disregarding his protesting muscles. Kurama pushed off a tree branch and Trisha shrieked and grabbed onto his neck. His body was tired and unstable; she could feel it in the way he stepped.

"Did Youko tell you anything about the weapon he stole?"

"…No was that pretty red thing that you took out of your shirt 'the weapon'?'

"Yes."

"Why is it so important?"

"It is a valuable heirloom from an ancient clan of Ninjas that specialize in using poison and other dangerous killing techniques."

"Okay…why did Youko steal it?"

"That is something I would like to understand as well..."

All of a sudden Trisha's head began to ache. She groaned and put a hand to her left temple. As Kurama ran further and further her headache escalated.

"Ouch… I need to sleep… or something…" she groaned.

"That's the portal you're sensing." He explained.

"Huh!?" She shrieked. What portal was he talking about?

"How do you suppose we traveled here?" He asked.

"… … …" Trisha looked down. "… … …To be honest I never really thought about how I got here…" She said shyly. That was definitely stupid of her.

"The portal is a large vortex of shifting energy. I'm not surprised you can sense it."

"Ugh…is my head going to hurt this badly when we go through it to get home?" She asked while resting her head on his chest. She felt like she had a bad headache, a fever, and a migraine all at once. However, hearing his heart beat made her feel better.

"Yes. I suggest falling asleep if you are able to in a short period of time. You will not feel the pain if you're asleep."

"It hurts too much to sleep…" She groaned.

"Then you must bear with it. It only hurts this badly the first time you sense energy. The next time your mind will recognize it and not react this way."

"Ugh…okay just tell me when we're almost there…" She responded.

"Of course."

Several minutes later Kurama alerted her that they were about to pass through the portal and she felt as if her head was going to explode. The pain was so terrible she found herself crying. It spread to her ears, neck, shoulders and eye sockets. When they passed through they were in a wooded area and Kurama sprinted further and further away from the portal site. Trisha's headache gradually decreased and eventually dulled to a small pain in her forehead. She found herself falling asleep and unfortunately couldn't stay awake any longer.

When she awoke it was already morning and time to prepare for school. She shot out of bed in a Pavlovian response to her alarm clock and momentarily wondered if what had happened was a dream.

She looked down and saw her torn shirt, bare stomach and soiled shoes and knew it was not a dream. She smelled the air and nearly vomited. How on _Earth _was she able to deal with the foul scent of demon world last night without vomiting? It was putrid. She ran to her shower, cleaned herself off until she was satisfied, dried her sopping wet body and dressed in her school uniform. She grabbed her sling backpack and ran out of her house without saying anything to her cold and uncaring family. Only one thing was on her mind: Apologizing to Masaya. She left the poor kid hanging because she was kidnapped by a soul-munching demon. How on Earth was she supposed to explain that?

Maybe she could say she had a family emergency? She smirked. She can always say her sister was trying to kill herself or something. If rumors spread it would teach the little jerk a lesson, but at the same time that was wrong. He didn't have to know her business right? She can just say she had a family emergency and leave it at that. But what if he got nosy and decided to ask Alyssa about the "family emergency"? Knowing her she'd respond with "excuse me? What family emergency", or something like that.

She didn't even check how many days she went missing. Maybe she can say she…got sick? Any family excuse would be futile and she wasn't about to jinx her cat and say something happened to him. No way. She'd just have to take it upon herself and lie about herself coming down with a serious case of… something… whatever she'd figure it out later.

She finally made it to school and caught up to Masaya. He greeted her with a cheerful smile. His short side-swept black hair was wet (probably from a morning shower) and his green eyes sparkled as he stopped and waited for her to catch up to him after she had called his name.

"Good morning." He stated when she had finally caught up to him in front of the school gate.

"Hi." She accidentally greeted in English as she caught her breath and nearly cried at how much pain her body was in. Her muscles still hadn't recovered from all of her training with Kurama.

"Are you all right now? Shuichi told me what happened…" Masaya mentioned in a concerned tone of voice.

She stopped for a second. What did Kurama say to him? She nearly gasped. There was a note on her nightstand! She completely forgot about it when she was running out of her house! She had noticed it when she stepped out of the shower and completely forgot about it when she was dressing! Oh no… there must have been some sort of explanation in there! How was she going to play along with this one?

"Y-yeah…I'm okay…" She said, finally catching her breath. She'd have to buy herself a juice or something from the school vending machine later. She hadn't taken a drink at all this morning.

"You must be very active to be going on nature walks right after school. I see the poison ivy on your leg healed very quickly. You're lucky. It looks like nothing happened." He said, pointing at her leg. Thank god this kid loves to talk…and believes everything…

"Uh, yeah it was awful but I have this stuff from back home that's really good for rashes and stuff." She explained, lying through her teeth. Kurama was good… really good. He had answered any and all questions _before_ he went to rescue her. She exhaled in relief as silently as she could. The two started walking to their morning classes.

"So when is our next and first training session?" he asked.

" Speaking of that, I'm so sorry I missed the last one… And I'm not sure. I'll let you know, though. Is that okay?" She asked.

"Of course. You have my number. Message me when you figure something out. And you don't have to apologize. You were in the hospital! It must've been very bad…"

"Sure..." She said, smiling as they stopped in front of her classroom.

"I'll see you later." He said. She nodded, they waved to each other and he walked off. Somehow, she felt like she wasn't going to train with him…ever. No offense to him but he was always so gentle, sincere and kind…he seemed too merciful to be a teacher…

"Perhaps you should choose a mentor before you make any more appointments…" She heard Kurama's calm but somewhat stern voice behind her. She slightly jumped and spun around. She didn't know how to respond to his sentence. He was so quiet…she didn't even hear him come up behind her.

"W-what do you mean?" She stuttered in response.

"Nothing more than what I stated. You cannot have two mentors."

"Can't I learn from both of you?"

"Unfortunately, no you cannot."

"Why?" She asked, a concerned expression on her face.

"He and I have different techniques and different methods of teaching. I would teach you different things differently and he would teach you different things differently. Eventually you would find yourself confused. Habits are difficult to break. He may teach you something that would hinder you in your training with me and vice versa. Thus, you must choose."

"Oh…that makes sense…" _"…again…" _She said then hung her head in thought.

"Do you need some time to think it over?" He asked.

"Um…not really. I like training with you better…you're a good teacher…" She admitted shyly. A light pink blush spread across her cheeks. She looked up into his green eyes and was relieved when she saw him smiling. Perhaps he was smiling this whole time? He could always read her but she could rarely read him. It wasn't fair.

"Did you receive my note this morning?"

"Um…no…sorry…I was in a rush to get here to deal with me missing however many days and didn't notice it on my nightstand but I guess you took care of that already, didn't you?"

"Yes. The secretary at the attendance office wondered why I was the one informing her of your absence but I managed to convince her to give you several days off."

"What day is it today?"

"Thursday."

"Oh my god! Last time I checked it was Monday!"

Kurama nodded. "It was difficult to track your captor down. Thankfully he had trouble breaking through your mental barriers."

"My what?" She asked, a clueless look in her eyes.

"Mental barriers." He repeated. "It's a defense mechanism the mind harbors. Everyone has mental walls. Yours are abnormally thick."

She stared back at him blankly. Okay…what now? Was that a bad thing? He chuckled at her expression.

"It's nothing of great significance. It will aid you against psychic attacks, so it's a good asset to possess. Try not to worry about it too much." He explained.

"Okay…thanks. It was really sweet of you to do all of this for me. I'm really sorry for causing you so much trouble…" She apologized sincerely. He shook his head.

"You saved Youko's life. You have nothing to apologize for."

"What?" What was he talking about? Youko claimed to be okay…His body was fighting it… he just needed rest… right?

"You don't remember giving him the antidote to the poison in his blood stream…?" Kurama asked, a concerned look appearing on his normally calm face.

"Well yeah I do, but Youko said his body would have been able to fight it off anyway…The herbal water was just supposed to help speed up the process…" She explained. Kurama's eyebrows rose in response to his surprise at her statement.

…She was going to explode… NO WAY was Youko actually dieing and decided not to tell her! No way! What a liar!

"You mean to tell me he really WAS dieing!" She shouted. Kurama looked left and right at his passing peers' confused looks. He put a finger to his lips.

"Shhh… Keep your voice down…" Her eyes widened and she covered her mouth. Oops…

"I'm sorry…" Came her muffled apology.

"It's fine and yes he was dieing. I suppose he intended to keep you calm…" Kurama explained.

She took her hand away from her face. "That was a really jerk thing of him to do!" She whispered angrily. Kurama shrugged.

"All is well. There is nothing we can do about it now…"

She exhaled her frustration. "Whatever. We're going to be late. Let's walk in before Ms. Spawn-of-Satan marks us late…"

Kurama chuckled.

"She's jealous of you." He revealed.

"What?"

"You and your younger sister are very popular. Before you two arrived she was a celebrity."

"Oh…I'm not popular. No one talks to me…" She countered.

"On the contrary you are… there is much talk about you."

"What? If they have something to say why don't they just say it to my face?" She responded defensively.

"Because what they have to say isn't bad at all. In fact you have many secret admirers."

"What? Who?" She asked, eyebrows pinched together in surprised confusion. Was he serious? She was a total outcast! He smiled and looked up at the ceiling.

"Unfortunately my lips must remain sealed."

"That's stupid! Tell me!"

"Time is running out. Let's take our seats." He said with a secretive smile on his lips.

She took a breath to protest but he ducked into their classroom before she could say a word. She exhaled in diffused annoyance and took her seat with a deflated expression on her face. Hopefully today wasn't going to suck.

E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E:E

That's that. Review please! Sorry if this chapter was a boring one! I promise it will get better! And I tried to update asap. I'm sorry this one came so late. Life troubles and such… Review please please please!

-Kimi-


	12. Training

WEEDS CAN TURN INTO FLOWERS

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything copywrighted, patented, already owned etc.

Go sue someone else who forgot to write a disclaimer.

CHAPTER 12

-After school-

Kurama and Trisha met at the school gate and began their trek home. Trisha felt awkward walking next to her teacher. She realized she had technically lied to him about taking extra classes. That was really rude of her. It's as if she were saying: Your teachings aren't enough _or_ good enough. Awful. Awful awful AWFUL! She was terrible. How could she do that without even realizing it? It was like cheating on a boyfriend…somewhat… Okay no, it wasn't that harsh but it was _definitely_ a form of disloyalty. She had to apologize.

Everything was going to be okay…right? She had already sent Masaya a text message about them needing to talk. She was scheduled to meet him later tonight in front of his dojo so she could call their lessons off... to his face… She would make things right. After all, Kurama did get to her first and was the better, though probably harsher, teacher. He was stern…scary… Masaya was…warm…fuzzy…cuddly. He was more of a shoulder to cry on than a teacher to obey at all costs.

"…Kurama…?" She asked shyly, staring at the grey pavement as she walked next to him at a comfortable pace.

"Yes?" he asked calmly.

"I'm really sorry…I honestly wasn't aware of what I was doing…I really thought that getting trained by Masaya would help me train better with you. I was afraid to disappoint you…and I think if I ever did disappoint you I'd feel like crap about it, so I guess that's why I was striving for ways to get better at—

He placed his hand on her shoulder, stopping both of them in their tracks.

"I understand. You didn't have to apologize, however hearing a sincere apology and receiving a good reason as to your actions has settled my mind. In other words… thank you."

"You were worried?" She responded and gazed up at him. His eyes truly were relieved.

"Of course. I wondered if perhaps I was being too harsh with you and drove you away."

"_PERHAPS! Just 'Perhaps'!"_She shrieked in her head. He really _was_too harsh sometimes… But her anger was instantly diffused when she realized he was putting her through such arduous tasks because he believed she could do them. Some of those things were beyond difficult and for him to think she could reach goals that high was a complement to her. He believed she could do more than she thought she could and that was no reason to be angry with him for. Plus, he was a merciless teacher by nature…she couldn't really blame him for being himself.

"No…I like your training. I just wanted to do better." She shyly revealed.

He knew she wanted to make him proud of her, but was too proud to say it. He smiled and chuckled to himself. She reminded him a tad bit of Hiei. He'd have to go to demon world soon and visit his fiery friend and Yusuke as well of course.

"Let's go." He stated and nodded his head towards their path. She nodded and they walked in silence. Trisha was perfectly fine wrapped in her own thoughts until a very bad feeling overcame her and she stopped. Kurama stopped walking as well and looked at her with a concerned expression on his face. The two made eye contact and Kurama cocked an eyebrow in question.

"Bad feeling." She mumbled.

"What were you thinking of when you received it?" Kurama asked.

"Tonight."

Kurama remained quiet, waiting for further explanation.

"I'm supposed to meet Masaya and tell him about not being able to take lessons from him anymore tonight."

"I see. Would you like me to keep an eye on you from a distance?"

"No, no. I'll be okay. I think I'm just nervous. I feel bad telling him 'no'." She said. Kurama gave her a skeptical look in response. Last time she went to meet with the boy at night she was kidnapped and nearly killed.

"I know, I shouldn't do it if I have a bad feeling about it but I don't want to look flaky." He gave her a surprised look as if to say "you're _really_going to risk your life because you don't want to look _'flaky'_?

"I'll be fine. Don't worry about me." She persisted in response to his look. She made Kurama worry enough on a daily basis, anyway. "It's not as bad a feeling as I got last time. Maybe he'll just be upset or something. He's pretty sensitive." She reasoned. He regained his serene expression but his emerald eyes remained skeptical. They both continued walking and stopped at the corner at which they usually parted ways.

"If you run into any trouble you won't be trapped within it for long. If anything does happen please call me if you are able to."

"I'll be okay. I'll see you tomorrow." She reassured with a smile. He was so attractive she wanted to smack herself for falling for him. She watched him shake his head in disagreement. She raised an eyebrow and he pulled a small white paper out of his pocket and handed it to her.

"What's this?" She asked.

"Instructions. I'll see you then." He said with a smile.

"Oh… okay then. Later!" She replied, cheerfully smiling back at him.. He nodded and they parted ways.

-8:00 pm-

Trisha left her house wearing high-wasted black shorts accented with silver buttons, a loose white blouse that she tucked in and bright red strappy sandals. She finished off her polished look by tying her long hair into a neat, loose bun, adding some bangles and loose jewelry to her neck and sporting a light brown, leather tote bag in which she stored the round, black compact-mirror-looking device Kurama handed to her for emergencies amongst other feminine things like perfume and a few make-up articles. She met Masaya in front of the Dojo at exactly 8:15- their meeting time. Masaya was dressed in relaxed, dark-wash jeans, a simple, white t-shirt that flaunted his tan and black shoes that she noticed were specifically designed for free running and training. She gave him a confident smile. If she was going to dump his offer tonight, she was going to do it confidently, no matter how horrible she felt about it.

"Yo." He greeted, gesturing a "hello" with his right hand as well.

"Good evening." She greeted in proper Japanese. He laughed at her formality and she blushed cutely.

"You look nice." He commented, and opened the topic of conversation for her.

"Thank you." She replied warmly. Should she cut to the chase or BS a little bit? Was it rude to get right down to business? She didn't like frustrating situations. Unsure of how to begin their conversation, she waited for him to speak as she disguised the feelings of nervousness churning in her stomach and chest behind an expertly maintained serene façade.

"What's going on?" He asked in a friendly, yet perceptive tone. Her shocked, blue eyes caught his playful, green ones and realization dawned on her: he was slick; he already knew what was going to happen.

"I kind of did something a little bit dumb…" She stated in an honest, yet embarrassed tone, but regained her confident stance and disposition a moment later. He curiously cocked a dark brow and waited for her to continue.

"I kind of already had a teacher when I accepted your lessons. That teacher made me realize that having two mentors would throw my training with the both of you completely off balance at some point. I don't know you well, Masaya but I decide to choose my other mentor. He's strict and scary… I think I need that more than lessons based on positive feedback, you know?" She explained, feeling as if she were asking him for permission out of their agreement rather than telling him she was walking away from it. She would have to work on that skill. She always had a problem saying "no" to people who didn't deserve it bluntly, but her most recent encounter with Youko made her realize that being firm in certain situations was an attainable goal for her. She just had to try harder at it and not feel like she was letting people down. She looked back at Masaya and he was smiling, much to her surprise.

"It's okay, Trisha. I think your teacher is wise for saying something like that. If you need any advice on your training or just want someone to spar with I'm here for you." He stated sincerely. She smiled in relief, the nervous feeling she harbored in her chest all day immediately poured out of her and she was overcome with the need to hug him out of pure relief and joy, but held back. The last thing she wanted was for Masaya to get the wrong idea an in Japan it was easy to misinterpret American customs. People here didn't hug or touch upon greeting. That was the complete polar opposite of America, where people hugged and sometimes even kissed upon greeting each other.

"Thank you so much, Masaya. Are you sure I'm not being a jerk?" She asked, with her brows curved upwards and an uncertain tone in her voice.

"You're not being a jerk; of course not. Anyway, I have to go home and help my parents with something, but before I go I'd actually like to ask you something…" He trailed off, a light blush donning his cheeks. The shy boy looked to the side, uncertain of his next question. _"Oh no… here it comes… please don't ask me out, Masaya. Please don't be stupid! I don't want to look like an ass and reject you and make things awkward!"_Trish panicked in her head.

"…Yea?" Her voice nervously wavered, hoping he wasn't going to ask her what she didn't want him to ask her.

"Well, you see… a few friends of mine are going to go to an Utada Hikaru concert. They have two extra tickets so we wanted to know if you and your sister wanted to go?" He asked. "Utada's concerts are always epic in the summer and I thought we'd invite you two as kind of a welcome to our country. What do you say?" He asked and pulled two tickets out from his back pocket. She stared at the tickets decorated with blue butterflies and Utada's cat-like eyes. She wanted to glare at something for being so nervous. His shy disposition made her think he was seriously going to ask her out on a date, yet he was only trying to be a good neighbor. She smiled and giggled in relief. For a moment she felt stupid for jumping to conclusions but cast those thoughts aside in favor of a weightless mood.

"Alyssa loves Utada. We'll go." She agreed. "When is the concert?" She asked, curiously. He smiled at her and responded in an almost excited tone. "The weekend after this semester ends. It's not for a while but you know how ticket buying is. You have to start early to get front row seats like we did." He explained.

"Yeah I understand, though I've never been to a concert before. I can imagine front row tickets would sell out quick." She responded. With wide, green eyes he slowly handed her the tickets.

"Trisha you've never been to a concert before!" He exclaimed, shocked at her declaration. She blushed and decided he was cute when surprised. "That's a sin. We have to go now, no matter what." He chastised in a "serious" tone. She laughed in response and agreed.

"Thanks Masaya. I have to get going now, though." She mentioned. It was about 8:25 and she had to get back to her house, change and meet Kurama at her front door step at around 8:45. If she were late, she got the feeling that he would probably have her head for it.

"Sure, would you like me to walk you home?" He politely asked as she dropped the tickets into her bag.

"Nah, that's okay." She responded, shaking her head. As soon as she would turn the corner of this street she would have to run full speed. Her encounter with him had lasted longer than she thought and she was starting to feel pressed for time. "I appreciate the offer, though." She added with a warm smile to not offend him.

"I'll see you tomorrow at school then?" He asked.

"Absolutely. See you!" She waved. He returned her gesture and left in the opposite direction she had to travel in. She turned to leave and as soon as she rounded the corner and was certain he was too far away to see her, she broke into a fast-paced run. She managed to reach her house in three minutes time, a record for someone as lethargic as her, and flew through her front door, past her living room, and then upstairs into her bedroom like an eagle on a mission. She dumped her purse on her bed and paused to frown at her walls, deciding she would have to have her parents repaint them. She then stepped into her closet and slipped on a pair of tight, black athletic pants with hot pink diagonal accents on the side and a matching top. She put on a pair of black and hot pink Nike- Free sneakers and grabbed a new backpack she bought for herself after school. She threw her communicator inside, grabbed a water bottle from her grey mini-fridge on the floor next to her desk and shoved the flimsy plastic into a pocket inside the backpack that was specially made for drink containers.

She stared at her cat for a moment, who stared back at her, mimicking her blank expression. The feline reminded her of Ren and she figured she should probably take along a miniature first aid kit, just incase something crazy happened again. With Ren out for her blood, quite literally, and the ninjas who were probably still after Kurama an insane situation could sneak up on her and this time she would be as prepared as she could be. She stepped into her bathroom and opened a small, white cabinet on the wall opposite of her shower and pulled out a first aid kit. She checked the contents and stuffed it into a square pocket within the backpack. She zipped the zipper and stuffed her arms through the straps. She clicked the two buckles of the backpack together, fastening the object across her chest and midsection so it wouldn't move during perilous training sessions. She checked the time. It was 8:44 pm. She was just in time. She dashed down the stairs and the voice of her father calling her name stopped her in the hallway just outside the warmly lit living room. That was weird. He was home early tonight. She refrained from shrugging and kept her back to him, waiting for him to speak. She ehard the rustling of paper and assumed he was reading the news.

"Where are you headed to?" He asked nonchalantly as he leaned forward in his comfortable, grey lay-z-boy.

"Ummm…" She hesitated. Why did he care? Didn't he usually _not_ care about her activities, or completely disapprove of them altogether for their lack of benefit to their family as a unit? "…To the gym to work out?" She lied, questioning herself as much as her father's intentions.

"What you said about Alyssa… is it true?" He asked, referring to the incident where she choked her sister.

"Dad I wouldn't lie… I have no logical reason to." She stated in a serious tone. There were a few tense moments of silence and her stepfather sighed in a way that only troubled, aging men could sigh. Instead of commenting further, he changed the subject.

"Your math teacher called." He stated. _Crrrrrrap…"_She internally groaned. _"How vengeful could that woman possibly get!" _

"She said you're doing well. The administrative office told her they want to put you on the school's student council. I wanted to know where all of your good grades came from." He stated. Her shoulders slumped in intense relief. She almost audibly exhaled the huge breath she took in. _"Kurama…Kaito…you guys are officially my bro's!"_She cheered on the inside. It was really all thanks to them that she was excelling in school. They were somewhat protective of her and refused to let her fail.

"I've had help. The Japanese people are kind and willing to assist when it comes to academics. Students don't get that kind of treatment in public, American schools." She explained, keeping her tone cold, and even, though she really wanted to jump and dance around out of joy and gratefulness to her friends.

"I'm proud of you." He stated almost inaudibly. "Have fun at the gym." He then wished. She turned to him and he wasn't looking at her anymore. She smiled at the aging man, still in his brown business suit from work. She energetically whirled around and left with a happy feeling swelling in her chest. Before she shut the door, called behind her shoulder and thanked him, then quickly ran out. When she turned away from her front door, Kurama was standing on the sidewalk in front of her, dressed in a simple, white t-shirt and black Nike-brand exercise pants. He wore his black pumas and had his hair tied back into a low ponytail. He smiled at her in greeting, despite the fact that she was a few minutes late, and kept his hands relaxed at his sides. She couldn't sense any hostility from him so she assumed he mercifully let her lateness slip.

"Good evening." She greeted with a pearly smile. His smiled brightened and he waited for her to join him on the sidewalk before he began speaking.

"Tonight we are going to run laps around the park and work on your arms, abs and legs. Towards the end of the night we'll work on honing your spirit awareness." He explained. She nodded, but eyed him wearily. Something must've gone horribly wrong because Kurama was usually never so straightforward.

"Is there something the matter?" He asked with a cocked, red brow. His expression became slightly confused as if he were trying to understand a tricky math problem.

"Well… no…kinda… I mean… What's the catch?" She finally asked, a distrusting look on her face. He released a calm laugh in response. She frowned at him and he took that as his cue to explain.

"If you're looking for riddles to solve we can do that tomorrow evening. Tonight is just for honing your basic skills as a fighter. I assume you will not disappoint, as always." He stated with a mischievously slick smile. Did he even understand the weight of what he was asking her to achieve? She would have to be extra vigilant tonight if she wanted to step up to his challenge… _and_ keep her memories of him.

E:E:E::EE::E

Okay yeah that was kind of a boring chapter but I'm going to take it slow and keep it detailed from here on out! I hope you guys enjoyed it and I'm glad to be back writing this fic.

Review please!


	13. Hookey

WEEDS CAN TURN INTO FLOWERS

|13|

A few things to mention before I take a whack at this fic _again_:

1. Yes. I have deleted chapters thirteen and fourteen... repeatedly. So many of you may see this update but not know what's going on. I'm sorry but yes I'm changing the plot front chapter twelve onwards.

Why?

Because my whole life changed since I wrote chapter twelve. It changed a lot; as did my tastes and views on myself and my life and how I want my life to be and other personal things. I recently rediscovered my passion for school and being young and was thinking about taking another shot at this fic, which I thought was dead, to be honest.

2. While all of the above was happening, recently I have gotten several reviews from different readers and I would like to thank you all from the bottom of my heart. You guys, with your detailed reviews, have reignited my passion for this story.

I like DETAILED reviews. Tell me exactly what you want. Tell me exactly what you like. Tell me exactly what you don't like. These kinds of reviews, where I see the reader reading and perceiving my work in different ways... they keep me going.

In other words, NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER **EVER **hesitate to leave me LENGTHY reviews. They feed me.

-X-

A shadow morphed into the shape of a cloaked man, as a female visitor exited the mostly dark, navy-blue pseudo space with a polite promise to visit again. Ren, clad in a black, hooded cloak, bent to one knee in front of his oversized superior.

The top of his head only reached the powerful male's ankle. Ren was amazed there was no stench coming from his sandaled feet. An amused expression made its way onto the shapeshifter's handsome face as he wondered if such a large being was able to bathe normally, and how much water he would need if he were to partake in cleansing himself in the first place.

"You take a great risk in coming here, Ren. I appreciate your vigilance." The booming voice resounded throughout the space.

"It is my utmost pleasure." Ren responded professionally. After all, that's what he was: a professional. .

"Well then, let us make this meeting as brief as possible." The male spoke. Again, the air of the space rumbled in response to the boom of the male's tone.

"Of course..." Ren waited for the male to begin.

"The fox will be distracted soon enough. Use that time frame to strike. I suppose you already have a plan in mind..."

"Who would I be if I didn't?" Ren smirked.

"Hmph. That much is true. Dismissed."

With one last nod, Ren morphed into the shadows and stealthily exited the space. He now had places to be and certain individuals to recruit...

The coming events were going to be exciting. Perhaps this time he could enact the ritual to get the flower maiden's blood.

-X-

Trisha felt like the living dead. Her homeroom teacher was calling off everyone's names to establish whether they were in attendance or not. Naturally, at the moment, she was asleep. She arrived home _beyond _the normal definition for "late" last night and just didn't sleep enough before she decided to go for a morning run by herself.

Only a good "wake up" kick from Kaito saved her from missing her name and being ridiculed by the hormonal Mrs. Namikawa.

"Here." She drawled, not fully awake... or alive for that matter. She caught the sight of Kaito retracting his leg back underneath his desk from the corner of her half-lidded eyes. Namikawa moved onto the next student. Thankfully, her friend had helped her dodge that bullet.

"Thanks..." She whispered to Kaito who smiled and nodded his head. She winked at him in a friendly manner. He really had a good heart.

She practically slumped over afterwards, however. Today was not going to be a productive day by any means. Furthermore, today was technically the start of her day off. Kurama was away on a minor case with Botan. He had left the night before, right after he had dropped Trisha off at her house, saying something about hunting down a pair of C-class demons who had stolen a few artifacts from Spirit World.

She had twenty-four _glorious _hours all to herself. She was going to make it a point to hang out with Masaya and Kaito for part of that twenty four hours, while simultaneously eating as much as possible.

A slice of pizza and some pepsi was somewhere on her list of things to "accomplish" today.

Yummm...

She felt her pocket vibrate.

"_Masaya... hmmmm should I convince him and Kaito to ditch school with me so we can hang out?" _She looked over at Kaito. Yeah... that would be a great idea. Kaito needed to let loose a little. He was too uptight about school. Kaito would benefit from some one-on-one hang-out time chock full of comedy of some sort... She smirked as she checked her phone. Masaya would have to wait until tonight...

"Hey! You were saying something about going for a run in the park later tonight?" His text asked her. Yep that was the plan. She was going to eat and chill and lounge all day but bust her butt to work it all off at night and hope Kurama didn't catch her slacking the next day.._. if _the laziness decided to rub off on her, of course.

"Yes." She texted back. "Seven." She stealthily pressed the "send" button and shut her phone.

After class, she discreetly stalked behind Kaito as if she were a lioness and he was her prey.

The poor nerd... he was going to have a blast today. Heh heh... He was just walking... minding his own jolly business... Suddenly.., she pounced! She growled loudly behind him and slammed her hands down on his shoulders. Kaito nearly jumped ten feet in the air. She practically saw the goose bumps on his skin travel from his scalp to his toes.

He yelped, then whirled around at the sound of her laughter.

Success.

"Oh man. That was totally worth it. So... Kaito..." She smirked devilishly. "We're going to take a little vacation, okay?" She purred.

"Excuse me?" He queried; confused. As far as he knew, he was going to go on vacation to Aruba with his parents this summer. Since when did that involve Tri-

"You heard me; let's go." She didn't wait for him to respond. The curvy girl with loose, brown hair grabbed him by his sleeve and dragged him off. He didn't know what exactly was going on until he found himself being dragged past the school's gate.

"Hey wait! I can't just _leave_!" He suddenly panicked. What the heck was she thinking!?

"Oh hush. We're going to go hang out. It's _fine_." She stressed, as if it were only _her _grades on the line here. He tried to pull away, but his sense of adventure promptly told him to shut his mouth and play along, so he followed his friend down the street, despite his better judgment.

Wasn't she not supposed to be isolated if Shuichi wasn't in the vicinity? Kaito couldn't protect her if he tried. But her situation didn't seem too urgent, according to what little information his friend gave him about Trisha's situation, so he decided not to drag her back to school the other way. How bad can a shapeshifter really be? Worst case scenario he could just activate his territory. No one would be harmed.

-X-

Two hours later Kaito and Trisha stumbled out a local movie theatre; laughing. They had just seen a comedy and Trisha was insulted by some old lady before they entered the theatre. Of course, this was Trisha so she mischievously sat behind the old woman and kept discreetly sticking popcorn into the old bag's permed/teased hair throughout the whole movie. They had just watched the old woman leave through a side door, popcorn still intertwined in her wiry, grey locks. It was too funny to handle. Kaito_ had_ to laugh.

"That was something only one of my friends would do." He mentioned, thinking of how Yusuke-esque her ninja-popcorn techniques were.

"She deserved it." Trisha pouted slightly in defense. "She called me an_ American whore-child_. Who calls someone something like that?"

"Mm. I agree. What's next on the list?" Kaito asked, changing the subject. He had poked enough fun at the old woman's expense.

At first, he had to admit, he lightly resented Trisha. This outing was sure to keep him off of the top of the class, but now he was enjoying himself. She had said, "_All work and no play makes Kaito a dull boy._" She was right. He was happy to reacquaint himself with his sense of humor. Perhaps it would help him in the female department at a later date...

Nevertheless, he was excited for what was to come.

"Hmmm... I don't know. I guess we can go to the arcade?" She asked, looking up at him for feedback. Kaito had to smile. The arcade reminded him of Amanuma. He wondered if the boy had cut school to go there or if he was currently being a good child and attending the fifth grade like he promised he would.

"I believe that _is_ next on the list, Trisha-san." Kaito responded in an affirmative tone.

"Awesome! Let's go!" She took off. He followed right behind her, but was shocked when she was suddenly pulled into a large crowd of people. Literally, she was running and something black shot out and reeled her into the center of the crowd with a yelp.

He momentarily sensed a demon's energy before it vanished entirely. When the crowd dispersed, he saw her duck into an alley, and spin to fight off a stranger. The diminished alpha trait within him reared its head and he dove into the alley to aid her.

He found her slitting the throat of a demon dressed as a ninja with a broken glass bottle. Her method of self defense was brute and a bit intense, but it miraculously worked. She was winded, scared, and hyperventilating, but she was alive. His hide was spared... for now... Kurama would kill him later if he found out she came so close to danger...

"Trisha!" He found the strength to call her name. Her head snapped towards him and he studied the wild-eyed look on her face with shock. Was she all right?

"K-Kaito!" She stuttered. Had she ever killed anything before? He supposed not.

To her right, a shadow morphed into the shape of an elegantly-dressed man in dark-colored casual attire. Three of the dead demon's doppelgangers surrounded him and formed a few hand signs.

He was frozen in shock at what happened next. A portal opened beneath Trisha's feet! As far as he knew it took the abilities of _demi-gods _to open portals. Even his talented fox-demon friend couldn't open one at will!

The girl screamed and he was unfortunately, but realistically _useless _in helping her. The smooth criminal in all-black began to walk towards the swirling, blue vortex Trisha disappeared into with a confident smirk, but the dopplegangers must have run out of power because they fell to the floor just as the pathway disappeared. Angry, the man cursed at them and kicked a wall. They muttered meek, useless apologies in response.

While the demon was distracted, Kaito ran. He ran like hell. He ran like he had never run before. He ran all the way home to find his communicator so he could get in touch with Shuichi. The situation had gone incredibly sour all within the timespan of a few minutes... He was in trouble... or so he thought, until a familiar voice distracted him.

"Hn. Stupid human. You lost the fox's pet."

Kaito turned around just before he opened his door...

"Hiei!"

Maybe he could avoid Shuichi's wrath...?

-X-

OKay, this was just a short blurb to get back into the mood of writing this story. Trisha's next wild adventure will start in the next chapter. Hahhah! I love Hiei. He finally made his entrance!


	14. Red

WEEDS CAN TURN INTO FLOWERS 

Again incase most of you don't know: I deleted the previous chapters thirteen and fourteen! This is the new chapter fourteen! Please reread chapter thirteen! The plot has completely changed!

|14|

Trisha felt sick. The portal she was traveling through was strange. She had to shut her eyes and cover them with her arms in order to avoid the flashing lights and nausea that came with traveling through it. If she wasn't careful, she would seize. That would make her situation so much more worse once she was on the other side. She'd be passed out and Ren would be able to kidnap her with ease. She wouldn't even have a chance to run.

...

She was only within the portal for half a minute before she was flung out of it; literally. Like a projectile or a drunken man at a bar, she was thrown out the door with incomprehensible force.

Her eyes registered the bright sunlight and she screamed momentarily before slamming into something solid. Both she and the object she smashed into made a pained grunting noise before the sound of a tree branch breaking reached her ears.

Crap. She probably just injured someone...

A short curse was audible in the voice of a young male, and soon afterwards she found herself rolling in the stinky ground of Demon World. Nausea overcame her yet again, but only momentarily. Adrenaline struck her next. She had accidentally "attacked" a demon technically... She was in a heap of trouble now!

The energy within her body shifted suddenly and she felt much braver. She felt the same way she felt the night she was hanging from the pipe during Kurama's riddle/test. Her eyes snapped open and she jolted to her feet. She was too late though... what else was new?

A strong, warm arm wrapped around her neck. The other kept her arms locked behind her by her inner elbows. She tried to kick backwards, but the demon's feet had spread apart her own, destabilizing her severely.

"You smell wierd..." Came the curious, male tone, followed by a sniffing sound. "You smell human. But you smell demon too. You smell more human than demon, though... Akagi? Where are you?" He spoke as if he were trying to get the facts straght in his head.

A female suddenly appeared in her line of sight. The girl looked to be about Trisha's age, with long, intricately braided/designed red hair and side-swept bangs. Her eyes were dark grey, like storm clouds and her skin was beautiful, not too light, but not too dark either, yet not caramel. Absolutely beautiful. She wore a long, red skirt, with two deep slits up the sides of her exopsed legs. A cropped, wrap-around top clung to her breasts and upper torso and seemed to tie around her ribcage into a long bow in the back. Her arms were toned. Her nails were red, and her shoes were also red, matching to her hair and her outfit.

She was like a large drop of blood on the olive color scheme of the forest around them. Trisha was amazed. Never had she seen someone so beautiful. This Akagi girl was absolutely breathtaking in a very artistic way.

"Akaru, don't be stupid. Someone's after her. There's a group of twenty two acres from here. They're wolves. They have her scent and are heading here directly." Akagi spoke to the "Akaru" holdng Trisha captive in a factual, yet light hearted tone. Akagi knew Trisha was being hunted. Akagi... well, Akagi didn't seem to really care either.

_I'm going to die here if I don't get away... _

Her heart raced and her head momentarily swam as she struggled again. Once more, she felt her body change very slightly. Akaru tightened his grip, and Akagi adopted a curios glint in her eyes.

Trisha looked to a swishing, red thing behind Akagi. It was... –She squinted- It was a tail!

Instantly, her blue eyes snapped upwards to the top of the girls' head. Sure enough, fire-engine red fox/dog ears that matched Akagi's hair twitched around playfully.

Were the people she was with stupid? Or had Youko's scet worn off long ago? If they were fox demon's they should know how dangerous it is to hold a friend of Youko Kurama captive!

The situation instantly changed in Trisha's mind. This would turn out to be a test of wit and diplomacy.

"Look! She's changing!" Came the stunned, male voice behind her. Trisha peered down at her arm, then back at Akagi, who sniffed at the air.

"It's confusing them. They've slowed down momentarily." Akagi spoke with a hint of amusement in her tone. Trisha didn't care. Her eyes shot back down to what little part of her shoulder she could see. There was a pattern forming on the pale skin in black. It was strange, like a tattoo. It looked like a vine or a branch with a leaf or a petal stemming from it.

"You guys better let me go. If you don't those guys will come and get you. And if you decide to kill me first, I swear Youko Kurama will have your head." Trisha warned. She hoped no one would call her bluff. If these demons killed her Kurama would be too late. She doubted he would let the fox demon within him know.

The male who held her back laughed hysterically.

"What kind of dilusional halfling are you?" He seethed. "Why in all of Makai would the great fox-gramps _Youko Kurama_ give a single crap about someone like _you_? You're _dead meat_!" He insulted. "Furthermore, everyone's heard of Youko but not everyone's actually SEEN him since the demon tournament! So if you're SO familiar with him, proove it. I bet you don't even know what color his fur is!" Akaru snapped. Trisha smirked.

Bingo. She made sure to speak her next sentence quickly. She felt Akaru's arms tighten even more around her.

"Youko Kurama is over two meters tall. He has a deep, resounding voice. His hair is long, about down to his middle-back. His fox tail and his ears are both silver, as is his hair. His eyes are honey-colored. He uses plants to kill. He's incredibly fast... and perverted. He dresses in white clothes." She explained. "Believe me now?" Her voice sounded bolder to her than she felt.

Inside, she wanted to cry. Her uniform was stained and dirty with demon blood, as were her nails and face. She was afraid, and these people she crashed into would probably eat her alive and she'd never get to get married, or have children or an awesome career or anything. At least Ren would keep her alive long enough for her to come up with a plan... She would be way safer in Ren's cluthes than in the cluthes of hese fox demons!

"Tch. That's a lie. You're dead now, human girl." Akaru deadpanned.

"Wait! Stop! Listen! Youko stole something shiny and red from the people that are after me! They saw me with him! They poisoned him a while ago! He had me run and find an antidote! We were here before! I swear! He asked me to get a green plant with purple leaves that looks like poison ivy in the Human World to help get the poison out of his system! I'm his _friend._" She shouted desperately, every alarm bell in her mind going off. "I swear. I know him... I swear..." She pleaded.

"Heh, not so brave now, huh..." Akaru mocked.

How embarassing... she had completely lost what little composure she was able to fake. Kurama would be disappointed.

"Akaru. I don't smell any lies." Akagi explained, contradictory to what her brother was dead-set on believing. Akaru growled.

"We should just eat her, Akagi. It's rare for border patrol to be so late in picking up a lost human." He argued.

"I want to meet Youko Kurama." Akagi argued back, crossing her arms to enforce her point.

"You _always _want to meet Youko-gramps! He's probably hiding somewhere! This human scum can't possibly know someone like that!" Akaru snapped.

"I know him! I swear if you help get those guys off of my tail I can find him and personally deliver him to you two!" She shouted, unsure of why Youko was so important to them. God this was sad... she was dropping Youko's name as if it were some secret password to get into a super-elite club of some sort.

"How do we know you won't just run after we help you out?" Akaru asked in suspicion.

"You're both fox demons, right?" She watched Akagi nod, unable to see the man behind her, though she could feel his hair tickling her neck. "Then there has to be some sort of slow-acting poison that can help you track me down, right? Something you'll be able to pick up from several kilometers away?" She suggested, hoping something like that existed.

"I don't know what 'kilometers' are, but you have a point. Get on your knees." He didn't give her time to move. He threaded his fingers through her hair and shoved her to the floor by her head. If Akaru was human, he would make a good cop. She felt like a criminal being shoved into the backseat of a cop car...

"Akaru?" Akagi asked, curiously.

Suddenly, Akaru appeared in front of her. He was... well he was handsome! Were all fox demons so handsome? Was there even one out there that was unsightly?

Akaru had wavy, medium length, fire-engine-red hair that was cut in layers. It flowed around his head and face wildly, giving him a disheveled appearance. His fox ears stuck up cutely from the top of his head. His eyes were as dark grey and deep as Akagi's. His nose was perfectly straight and sized just right for his face. His lips were as full as his sisters and his jaw was square. He was dressed in red pants and shoes... that was it. His abs were something to _drool_ over. He wasn't overbuilt but it wasn't like he was scrawny or lanky, either. On his left pectoral muscle, just above his nipple, was a black tattoo. It was a fox that to Trisha looked like it was front flipping. Its mouth was open and it was trying to chew on one of its seven tails.

The beautiful man grabbed her right wrist and smirked.

"Here's what's going to happen. We're going to take you to our temporary camp. I'm going to mark you and you're going to run. Got it?"

"What?" She queried blankly. That wasn't nearly enough information to make her agree! Mark her? What the hell did he mean by— Akaru didn't wait for her to comprehend or ask questions. He scooped her up and seconds later she found herself in a dome made of bushes and leaves. He dumped her on the floor as if she were scum and walked out, leaving her there with a concerned-looking Akagi who seemed to shrug before rummaging through a pile of red clothes.

The fox demoness pulled out an outfit that ws an exact replica of what she was wearing.

"Take those clothes off." She commanded, though her tone wasn't curt or rude. It was athoritative but bland, as if she didn't really care.

Embarassed, Trisha undressed until she was naked. Her bra and panties had to come off too, apparently.

She almost gasped as she looked at the rest of her body. Her stomach was covered in black vines. Her chest had a mark on it too, as did her thighs and calves, feet, and hands.

"What are these marks?" She asked as Akagi threw clothes in her direction in a hurry.

"You don't know what they are?"The demoness queried back at her.

"No." Trisha honestly responded. Akagi shook her head and smiled.

"You'll find out... _if_ you survive." She smiled mischevously. Trisha almost glared. Did ALL fox demons like to test her!?

She found a pair of tight short shorts and decided that that was demon world's version of panties. Lovely.

Without complaint, she slipped the shorts on and watched as Akagi undid her red hair and pulled out a small knife.

Trisha slipped on the floor-length skirt and red shoes, tigthening a black sash around the waist part of the skirt. She fiddled with the sleeveless, cropped, wrap around top, but managed to put it on and tighten the bow in the back.

When she was done, Akagi had finally finished undoing her intricate hairstyle. Trisha gaped at the amount of hair that fell to the soft floor beneath them. Akagi's hair was like Rapunzel's! Except... it was fire engine red and super SUPER thick! Nearly the whole floor of the large area was covered in red hair.

Trisha must have looked like a fish because Akagi laughed at her as she gathered the hair at her waist and..._ Schlink!_ SLICED IT OFF!

"Oh my God, no!" Trisha cried. The hair was so beautiful! What the hell was Akagi thinking!?

"You worry too much, humangirl... I'm fifty years overdue for a haircut." Akagi smirked.

"M-My name is Trisha..." Trisha stuttered out.

"Mm. Nice name. It's different; kind of like you are." Akagi...complemented? Nearly a hundred tiny vines suddenly sprouted from the demoness's hands and Trisha flinched. Akagi laughed again. "You're pretty funny, for a human girl. Most would just run." The fox demoness explained.

"I've never had a good experience with vines like that..." Trisha wearily replied, eyeing the squiggling vines with distrust.

"Well this will be your first one. I'm going to tie my hair in with yours. Turn around and sit still." Akagi commanded in a more excited tone than before.

"R-right." Trisha fell to her knees and turned around. She felt the vines pull her hair back along with her bangs. They started making thousands of tiny braids, incorporating Akagi's beautiful red hair into each, miniscule weave within the time span of a few seconds.

Literally a minute later, Trisha had nearly a thousand or more teeny, little braids in her twirled the upper half of her hair and tied it with more red hair. Trisha's hair was now half up and half down and mostly red. This was like dying someone's hair... demon world style. It was fascinating!

Trisha picked up a tiny braid and studied it. There was only a tiny hint of her own brown color in it. Akagi's hair electrified each strand of her own hair and made it shine inhumanely.

"Turn around." Trisha obediantly turned around, ignoring how visible her "tattoos" were. She felt alien and strange. Suddenly she screamed as she saw Akagi slice her arm open!

"Akagi!" She shreiked, at the demoness' side instantly.

"You're too caring, humangirl." Akagi chastised with a curious smirk. Tisha frowned, still panicked. Kurama hadn't taught her how to heal injuries with spirit energy! She began to cry in frustration. Why would Akagi cut herself so deeply!?

Suddenly the demoness stuck the tip of her long, red nail into the thick, dark liquid and began painting strange symbols alongside of Trisha's tattoos.

Then Trisha finally understood. The blood would eradicate Trisha's scent almost completely, as well as the clothes and hair. She watched Akagi paint with a smile on her face and finaly understood that the demon girl was_ enjoying_ herself like a fashonista giving someone a complete makeover. She was creative and Trisha was currently her work of art.

When Akagi was done, she led Trisha to a mirror she hadn't noticed before. Trisha's lips and eyes were painted with Akagi's blood. The red color of everything looked beautiful on her pale skin. It took her breath away. If Trisha could image herself as a demon... this is what she would want to look like. Black marks accentuated the corners of her eyes and trailed down her neck and shoulders, spanning down her flat stomach and now toned legs. She looked... dare she think it... _sexy_. Or was that Akagi's point? To make her look sexy? She couldn't be sure.

She felt herself change again. Akagi's blood made her own blood feel strange. More black marks appeared on her skin as the demoness led her out of the hiding place. Akaru was pacing back and forth, even though they had only been occupied for three minutes in total.

"Good job, Akagi." He complemented his sister, then glared at Trisha. Trisha minutely shuddered. Akaru was scary when he was mad. He grabbed her by the arm and led her to a private clearing. She silently wondered why Akagi wasn't following them. Was Akaru going to sacrifice or kill her or something?

"Ouch! That hurts, jerk!" She shouted boldly once they were out of earshot. As she tried to pull her upper arm away, Akaru stopped so abruptly Trisha crashed into his back.

"I can't believe I'm going to—" He stopped himself and turned around so fast, Trish could feel the rush of wind on her skin from his movements. She didn't have time to contemplate what he would have said seconds ago because he immediately began to speak again.

"Just so you know this isn't permanant! This is temporary and doesn't even count and it's all only because I want to meet Youko-gramps, got it!?" Akaru shouted in her face as if he were about to lose his virginity, and was angry with her for it.

To say Trisha was confused would be an understatement. What the hell was going on, exactly? The fox demon was blushing as well. Trisha cocked an eyebrow.

"Um...okay I guess?" She paused for a minute. "Don't worry about it?" She tried to reason. Was that the right thing to say? Akaru sighed, clearly aggravated with her lack of information. He grabbed her wrist roughly and he refrained from hissing in pain. Why on earth did he have to be so volatile?

"The venom will kill you in three days if you don't return and have it removed properly." He explained, now calmer. Trisha's heart skipped a beat. He looked mysterious, calm, and slightly conflicted. This was much more attractive than the heated, wild, embarassed Akaru she had just witnessed seconds ago.

"Stupid humans who smell like demons..." He mumbled under his breath. He took a deep breath and crashed his teeth against the tender skin of her wrist! Trisha shrieked as she felt a burning sensation rush through her veins. Why was he biting her!? Was that the 'venom' he was talking about? Ew! Why did this feel so... so... _personal_? Suddenly she was inescapably turned on... She became hot so fast she fell to her knees in a daze. She tried to figh the sensation rnning throughout her body, but she was weak to them.

_Everything feels... so... gooooood..._ She slurred in her mind. Breathing felt good. Being alive felt wonderful. Futtering her eyelashes and staring up at the dim sun felt incredible. She wasn't sure how much time passed as she felt the warmth spread throughout her body. She heard herself moan when it reached her genitals. Her whole body felt hot. Even her heartbeats felt like they burned each time they drummed. And of course each burning beat felt passionate and

Suddenly someone was shaking her.

"Hey! Hey! Human! Wake up!"

"Her name is Trisha, Akaru. You shouldn't have marked her more than fifty percent, but it will help cver her scent. Those marks increased too. I can barely smell her scent, even being this close to her." She heard Akagi's voice.

"A-Akagi..." Trisha stuttered. She saw two red blurbs become clearer and jumped back when she realized how close Akaru's face was.

_Why do I feel like we just... kinda... had sex? Almost? _

"Trisha. I look forward to seeing you in three days. Please head towards King Raizen's territory. If you travel as fast as you can in a straight line right in front of you, you will not miss it. King Raizen's son is a Mazoku. He has mercy on humans. We are certain he will help you find Youko-Kurama-sama." Akagi spoke, Trisha's uniform and underthings in her arms.

Trisha still felt dizzy, but she clambered to her feet anyway. Akaru seemed to tense.

"You should hurry, idiot. They're getting close." He half-spat.

"Right. Thanks. I won't fail you guys! Thanks again for helping me!" Trisha bowed low to show respect, her red-brown hair fell over her shoulders. The braids tickled her neck and she shot forward past the two demons.

She was lucky she knew Youko. Really, really, REALLY lucky. She would have to worry about convincing him to meet the two fox demons enamored with him later. King Raizen's territory they had said?

"Wait." Came Akaru's voice. She stopped so suddenly she almost fell forward. She turned aroun and cocked an eyebrow. It wasn't like she had a lot of time...

"You'll know it's Raizen's territory when you see many boulders marked with blue ribbons. They would be stupid to come after you there... King Raizen's son is a Mazoku by the name of Yusuke." Akaru explained. "Now take this and go!" Akaru threw some of his spirit energy at Trisha's right arm. Black vines wrapped around her arm securely. She gave Akaru a confused look but ran forward anyway, telling Akagi she was looking forwad to being her friend.

-X-

"Do you feel bad?" Akagi asked her brother when the human they befriended has disappeared through the brush.

Akaru shook his head.

"No. It's still temporary, no matter how close it was to becoming permanent..." He responded.

"It's normal to develope attachments to the things you mark, Akaru." Akagi knowingly spoke.

"Shut up Akagi. There is nothing there. Let's go; we don't have much time until they get here!" Akaru growled, obviously confused. His hormones were telling him one thing, and his brain was telling him another. Her poor brother...

"Right..." Akagi healed her wound, and shot off towards the South, making sure to rub Trisha's clothes on as many branches and bushes as possible...

-X-

SO. What do you guys think of Akaru? Did I make him sexy enough? I know he's an OC and most people think OC's suck, but seriously. Can you really hate a good-looking guy with a six pack and an intense personality? No. I don't think so. Anyway, Again, please leave reviews!

I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho.


	15. Jealousy

WEEDS CAN TURN INTO FLOWERS

IMPORTANT! If you haven't read the NEW chapters thirteen and fourteen go read them now. I have ramatically changed the plot of the story (for the better believe me) and chapters thirteen and fourteen are completely different! Read the author's notes as well please!

AGAIN: If you are familiar with this story and have not gone back to read chapters thirteen and fourteen PLEASE go do so now! If you are new to this fic, please cotninue enjoying it and leave detailed reviews! Thanks!

|15|

Kaito miserably trudged behind the three-eyed demon through some dank forest in demon world... Why was he doing this again? Oh yes, becase Shuichi's wrath was something he did not even want to dream of thinking about.

Hiei seemed frustrated. He has been frustrated for several hours now. Since they landed in demon world, a mysterious "Spirit Barrier", as the short man had described it, has been preventing him from seeing Trisha with his Jagan eye. Kaito suggested that they had better fess up now and notify Kurama, however, Hiei had snapped at him and nearly ran him through with his sword. Confessing to their mistake was apparently not an option... At least not for the fire demon ahead of him.

Kaito has realized that Kurama must have appointed Hiei to watch over Trisha from afar while he was away. Kaito has also realized that a miracle must have happened in order for Kurama's plan A _and _B to both fail... simultaneously. The redhead's temper would be positively _frosty_.

If Hiei's temper was hot and fiery, Shuichi's was cold and icy. And though Hiei postured a lot and tossed threats left and right that he very much _could _go through with, the demon was a gentle lamb compared to the redhead Kaito knew well. Hiei was far less threatening to Kaito than Shuichi.

Shuichi was silent when angry. Shuichi was calculating when angry. You didn't know how he would throw a wrench in your path or when. He just would when you least expected it. Kaito had only heard of Kurama's anger once from Yusuke. Only once. What happened to the one that angered him... was frightening. Thinking of the elder Toguro brother screaming somewhere, suffering for an eternity was frightening. No doubt Kurama would find something to torture him and Hiei with as well. But perhaps he was kinder towards his friends... more merciful. After all... _Kuwabara_ had somehow miraculously survived his training... And he was far more annoying than either himself or Hiei...

And thus the odd pair continued to hack and slash through shrubbery, searching for the feint scent of Trisha. With luck they would find her and Hiei would kill anyone and everyone that got in their path to bringing her to safety. Hopefully, the hardest part of today would be begging and bribing her not to tell Shuichi of their minor failure... Hopefully...

-X-

Trisha felt a pinprick in her mind. It was so sharp it made her stop so suddenly she almost messed up the jump from one end of a cliff to the other. It had been several hours since she left Akagi and Akaru. Someone was following her... Actually, when she focused on the feeling, she felt _three "_someone's" after her.

She sped up and continued running, almost high off of the demonic energy coursing through her body. She didn't feel tired or sore. It was amazing to be a demon. Was this how Shuichi felt during battle? Invincible?

That was wrong to say. She didn't feel invincible. She felt _sturdy_ for once. She felt strong. She felt fast. In reality it was probably absolutely foolish to feel so comfortable in such a compromising situation, however she couldn't help herself. She couldn't resist feeling that she was nearing King Raizen's territory. She almost felt kiddy wondering what it would be like to talk to the son of a demon that favored humans. Would he be smooth like Youko Kurama? Or would he be more intense like Akaru? It was already late in the afternoon. The sun would be setting soon. Demon world was... beautiful. It was breathtaking in this light!

-X-

Kurama, Botan and Yusuke shared some steaming green tea and edamame while sitting at a stone table in a round, stone room with a screen in between two, vast and open windows. The three friends joked and laughed up a storm, talking about their recent adventures. Naturally, Kurama kept Trisha's knowledge of their world a secret. Botan, though sweet and caring would most likely accidentally blab out the details to Koenma and Yusuke would probably use it as blackmail against him if either of them ever knew. Hiei and Kaito were quiet. Efficient. It was the reason Kurama made sure that only they were allowed to know and help him with his situation.

Speaking of Hiei and Kaito, he wondered if both were seperately doing their duties properly. Kaito was to walk Trisha home ater school today, and unbeknownst to him Hiei was to trail after them from a vast distance. After this visit, Kurama would head back to human world with Botan, drop her off at Genkai's temple to visit Yukina and head home to replace the imitation seed beast he left to take his place during the day. So far everything was steadily going according to plan.

"So, when are you two gonna go out? I'm tired of waiting to crack jokes." Yusuke drawled, smirking as Botan stuttered out something incomprehensible and blushed.

"Yusuke, you are growing too comfortable in this world. That was rude." Kurama quietly chastised as he sipped his tea. He could feel his cheeks growing hot with embarassment, owever and hoped the former spirit detective wouldn't catch him in the act of blushing.

"_Your reation appals me, Shuichi." _Youko chastised within their body. Kurama internally glared as Botan changed topics in the background. He was becoming fed up with Youko's opinions. Usually the fox never mentioned anything about Shuichi's decisions. He had most of the control of their shared body, and Youko Kurama never seemed to mind until now.

"_May I ask why you are so adamant about notifying me of your distaste, Youko?" _He snootily responded. He felt Youko prickle with annoyance within him.

"_Because, Shuichi—_

Suddenly a loud alarm resounded through Yusuke's inherited palace, effectively cutting off Youko's response within him. The fox demon had heard the sound through their shared link. Many bald monks filed into the viewing room and turned on the large screen. Botan felt nervous, and scooted next to him instantaneously. He held his arm out in front of her, protectively and flicked his green eyes towards the screen. Visits to Yusuke's castle were always interesting to say the least. He wondered what on earth had happened this time around...

"_Hmph... I was beginning to wonder when the fun would begin." _Youko murmured, equally tense.

-X-

Her heart was pounding so hard in her chest she thought she was going to collapse or have a heart attack. They had appeared just as she reached the stones with blue ribbons that signified Raizen's territory.

Ren was with two ninjas with swishing wolf tails. They had caught up to her.

"How clever of you to bargain your safety with your body, Trisha. I thought you to be a good human girl, but as I see now that isn't entirely the case..." Ren deadpanned, probably speaking of disgusing her scent with Akaru's venom.

"_Crap... crap crap crap!"_ She was _so _painfully close yet so far away! She figured she was only a few feet away from the nearest boulder. Ren was easily distracted... perhaps she could... do something to distract him?

A wild idea struck her and she decide to just go with it.

"K-Kurama!" She shouted and smiled somewhere behind Ren, who seemed to bubble with anger. The casually clad man spun around and that was when Trisha lunged at the rock behind her. Once her arms were securely wrapped around the tip she would use her hands to push off and launch herself into King Raizen's territory, effectively putting herself in safe territory, but like a cheap horror film, that never happened. She felt fur wrap around her lower legs.

She used all of her strength to hang onto the rock as her legs were being pulled on by the wolf tails of the ninjas. She was appaled momentarily that they could even stretch their tails _that _far, but then again this was demon world and pretty much anything was allowed to happen. If someone God-like could dream up of wolf demons in ninja gear that could stretch their body parts... it was bound to happen at some point...

Perversely, the tails slinked up her exposed legs and she momentarly felt violated.

"Let go!" She commanded wildly and tried to flail around to shake them off. It was of no use.

Suddenly, she felt a surge of Akaru's energy in her right arm. The black vines he had wraped around her arm jumped to life. They seemed to feed off of the power of the fox mark on her wrist. She studied the vines with curiosity and breifly caught the sight of a few demon birds circling her area. Was she really in so much trouble that even vulture-bird-demons knew she was going to be rotting meat soon?

-X-

Kurama's eyes widened at what he saw on the screen. Foreign and malicious energy was detected by the alarm system and the demon birds, equipped with eyes on their bellies to see the scene, were sending the video over to the castle.

Even though it was a common method of security... Kurama was _still_ frozen in shock. As the bird zoomed in on the woman in red, Kurama's worst fears were confirmed. Both Hiei _and _Kaito had been useless. They failed to protect Trisha, who was undoubtedly under the influence of her demon energy and struggling against the clan of ninjas Youko stole the jewel from.

"_That is not all, Shuichi... Look at her wrist... Someone has__** dared**__ to mark her..." _Youko growled within his mind, darkening his heart with anger and hatred. The fox's feelings were so strong in fact that even Kurama felt _pitifully_ jealous.

"_She has been marked by one of our own kind..." _Youko deadpanned as he watched Trisha pull her knees up towards her chest with great difficulty. The vines shot out from her arm and sliced the wolf tails off of her legs. She instantly vaulted over the line that marked the beginning of Raizen's territory, ignoring Ren, who was bold enough to chase after her. This entire case was about to get politically ugly if Yusuke took offense to the shapeshifter chasing a human girl on his land.

"Hey... that girl looks like me when I change over! Who the hell is the asswipe chasing her!?" Yusuke growled. Now Yusuke was angry. A few Mazoku marks appeared on his arms and legs. It was only natural of him to be protective of someone similar to him.

"I-Is that that girl you're supposed to be looking after?" Botan asked Kurama in fear, ignoring the obvious shock of silence throughout the room. "What on earth is she doing here?" A few heartbeats of pure, tense quiet passed as they watched the girl run, blue eyes shining with unshed tears of panic. Botan tugged on the end of Kurama's white t-shirt, hoping for an answer, but the redhead was silent. "K-Kura—

She could not finish speaking. Kurama snapped his head towards her and what greeted her was a pair of menacing, honey-colored eyes; not the familiar soft, green ones she was used to seeing. Kurama had been taken over...

"Release me at once." Came the cold voice of Youko from her, as of yet, unofficial boyfriend's throat. Shakily, she let him go. Both of her friends then disappeared.

-X-

"Stop chasing me!" Trisha screamed. She picked up a rock and threw it at Ren. She missed by a lot. "I swear if you don't stop... I'll... I'll make yself explode I swear!" Ren stopped. She tripped just then, inexplainably exhausted and rolled over, then popped back up onto her feet. She faced the menacing man, panting heavily, hoping her skin wasn't buring in the intensity of the just-beginning-to-set Demon World sun.

"I don't believe you." Ren spoke smoothly.

"Y-You should. I made a few friends that can make my body and all of its remains turn to ash!" She bluffed. Ren took a step forward. She held her ground. Maybe she could fight him? The vines on her arms felt like live snakes. The closer Ren became, the more they seemed to become agitated... the more they danced around, menacingly. She held out her arm in front of her. Akaru's vines would have to become her weapon if she wanted to survive this.

"It is unwise to fight someone of a higher level of skill, my flower maiden..." Ren advised as he cracked his knuckles by opening and closing his hand.

"Shut up. I can fight whoever I want. Now back off, or I'll detonate myself." She threatened. She placed a hand over her marked stomach an channeled a small amount of spirit energy into her fingers to make herself seem more believable.

Ren took another step forward, quite boldly.

_Why isn't he taking this seriously?  
_Her heart flailed wildly in her chest. She was almost out of options...

Suddenly, Ren was upon her and she shreiked. His tongue snaked across her neck. The vines on her arms shot out and wrapped around his limbs. They _would have _ cut him, however they did no good. He shapeshifted his limbs into movable steel.

"Ew gross! Let go!" She tried stomping on his foot, but the action was similar to a child throwing a tantrum: ineffective and wasteful of energy.

"Your demon scent is so beautiful... so botanic... it's fitting of the kind of demon you are..." He purred maliciously.

"Stop..." She begged, tears slipping from her eyes.

"Hmm? Did you say something?" He ignored. "Let's enjoy ourselves before your death, mm?"

Suddenly, a familiar energy pricked her senses... A very _angry_ familiar energy. It was accompanied by a very powerful energy that seemed infinitely strong.

"K-Kurama..." She squeaked as Ren took a step back. His steel arms held her in place and she was useless in fighting him. She felt so useless.

Useless.

Useless.

Useless.

_Useless. _How could she be so pathetic!? It wasn't fair!

Suddenly, an anger overcame her. She was no one's damsel in distress. She was NOT a princes in a castle! What the hell was this? Super Mario? Tch. Screw that!

She felt her body change again. His time, the energy within her body roiled. She imagined a great wave exiting her body through her back and crashing into Ren behind her, forcing him off.

She heard a male scream in agony as her face collided with the floor. She felt so tired... so, so tired and drained. However, she would not stop there. _I don't need saving,_ _damn it_... She shakily climbed to her hands and knees and took a deep breath. The loss of energy made her nauseous. Akaru's vines retreated and wrapped themselves protectively around her arm. She must have gotten Ren off of her.

Her excitement at her small victory overcame her and she found the energy to shoot forward and run. She ran past Kurama, who had somehow transformed into Youko Kurama and a boy with black hair and brown eyes who looked mostly human, besides the marks on his body that reminded her of the ones decorating her flesh. The boy looked at her in a questioning manner. The dopey confused look on his face was funny to see.

She began to laugh. She was free. She was so stupid and so free and felt so _wild. _Screw everyone; She was going to—

WHAM! She slammed into a soft body and fell to the dusty ground. She peered beneath her and noticed a very confused... Kaito?

"K-Kaito?" She queried. He seemed to be confused as well.

"Hn. Baka onna. I found you." The voice behind her was deep and insulting. WHAM! Her vision tunneled in response to the strike on her neck and she was out like a broken light.

-X-

Lol Of course, Hiei would do that. *Strike* "Okay, 'found the human... mission accomplished!" HAHAHAHAHA Anyway hit me up with LONG reviews. Detail me, readers! Give me some feedback!

I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho.

See you later space cowboy.


	16. Happiness

WEEDS CAN TURN INTO FLOWERS

Enjoy =] Special thanks to Nevvy! You kicked my butt in the best way possible and go me to pump out SO MANY CHAPTERS! Thank again! Here are the results of your awesome influence! Hope you like 'em!

|16|

"_Youko!" _The fox demon wasn't in his usual mindset. This worried Kurama greatly...

"_Keep your mouth firmly shut, Shuichi." _Youko threatened.

Youko knew the body he was sitting atop and beating into a bloody pulp was a regular demon that Ren disguised as himself. Youko knew Ren has advanced in his research, being able to control a weak, C-class shape-shifting demon into terrorizing Trisha, who was now resting peacefully in Hiei's arms. Youko knew all of this, so he was making sure the body Ren used was mangled _just _enough, before he picked it up, poured as much spirit energy into his right arm as possible, and flung it into the distance.

"_I have never seen you so angry... Youko." _Kurama chanced.

"_She was not supposed to suffer. She was not... supposed to become someone else's." _

"_..."_

Kurama ignored the betrayal he felt rolling off of Youko as he watched the fox demon near the unconcious body of Trisha. He wordlessly took her from Hiei, who quite bravely looked Youko directly in the eyes. Kurama knew that look. Hiei was looking _through_ Youko, to commnicate with him in the only way the best of friends could communicate in a situation like this one.

Kurama understood that look. It was a silent message to, "Get Youko under control. Now." So Kurama tried.

"_Youko, I must have contr—_

"_You will not have anything. Not until the poison he has disgraced her with is removed."_

Kurama wasn't sure if Youko was speaking figuratively or not... He was in no position to find out either.

"Riiight... Sooo... lets go back to the castle?" Yusuke _dared _to be nonchalant.

-X-

Once inside Yusuke's inherited property, Youko carried Trisha to the infirmary, where Botan waited to become useful. She gave Youko a sympathetic look, which the fox demon appreciated, but didn't feel particularly enamored with.

"You must all leave. She is poisoned and there are messages written all over her body in blood, which I must have peace to decipher." He explained to everyone, once inside.

Hiei nodded, Yusuke shrugged and Botan gave him a broken look before being ushered out by three silent monks.

Once they were gone, Youko went to work. Trisha was mildly poisoned. The disgusting tongue that licked her skin was laced with a topical poison that would have weakened her considerably, preventing escape. Miraculously, the mark from the demon fox allowed him to heal its host. The poison was not difficult to remove. Had it been placed anywhere else on her body she would have several hours before it began to take effect.

Once that was done, he began to transcribe the code that was written on her body in a fox demon's blood. Judging by the smell of the blood, it was a female. Youko could successfully say that at some point Trisha had encountered a pair of relatively young fox demons, no older than one hundred. One was male the other female.

"Dear, Youko Kurama-sama. I am Akagi of the Southern fox tribe of Makai. We have aided this human/demon woman who claimed to be familiar with you. The mark on her wrist will kill her if she does not return within the time span of three days."

The left was left unwritten. "Get here soon or she will die", in other words. A date and time was written on her stomach, where the coded blood message ended. Trisha had gotten here several hours after departing with the demons who helped her to no doubt gain something from him.

"_Perhaps the mark isn't permanent?" _Shuichi suggested in his mind.

"_Perhaps not... Shuichi... I... apologize for my pevious behavior." _

A relieved feeling washed over him and he almost smiled to himself. He and Shuichi hated to fight or disrespect each other. In order to live in harmony, they needed to work together.

Youko studied the mark on Trisha's wrist. He smelled it and nearly lost his temper yet again.

"_The fool nearly lost stopped just before she became his. He was far too young to complete a ritual so old." _He explained to Shuichi.

"_We will have to watch over him when he removes it." _Shuichi gentle provided.

"_Or we can just mark over it and be done with it." _Youko responded bitterly.

"_Youko... please allow me some ti—_

"_You needn't say a word. I understand more than you think I do, Shuichi. You are in love with someone else. Naturally, I have given this body to you. My soul is forfeit to yours. Please allow me to lament on my own terms, at least." _Youko interupted, his tone quiet with acceptance. He could never be with the woman laying on the bed next to the chair he sat in.

Shuichi had the rights to their body. Of course, Youko could just take it, but that wasn't fair to their mother. It was not right to do to Shuichi after using his body and his mother to survive. The boy deserved to live a proper life and reproduce with whoever he wished. Youko would only be free upon the human halve's death. By then, the woman... _his woman_... would be old and dead as well, her human body so fragile and wrinkled and worn.

It created a hole in his heart that he believed could not be filled.

Shuichi remained quiet, his emotions guilty and repentant. If Youko wanted to dream of things that were not possible, it was not his place to say otherwise.

"_Her hair is more beautiful brown than such an angry shade of red..." _Youko murmured and began to undo the mysterious "Akagi's" handywork, braid by braid. Surprisingly, the mind-numbing, repetative action calmed him. A few hours later, he silenty unraveled the last braid, cautiously leaning over a pile of red hair that had built up between himself and the bed.

Trisha was still unconscious at this point. Hiei's capabilities were not to be underestimated. With a weary sigh fitting of an old man, he trudged over to a separate wash area and dampened a clean cloth with water, throwing it into a glass bowl filled with the clear liquid.

Akagi's blood altered Trisha's scent to the point that it peeved him, so he dutifully sat next to her, the bowl in his lap and began to scrub the blood off of her lips and eyes. He gently worked his way up her arms, neck and across her chest and hands. He then gently removed all of the dried substance off of her abdomen and back. He rolled her back over so she was soupine, and began to cleanse her long, long legs.

When he was finished, fifty percent of the marks disappeared off of her body. To say the least, he was shocked. The fox demons made sure she had a high chance of survival. Their blood directly affected her own and they seemed to know it. Their blood kept her strong. It was most likely the only thing that helped her survive. She had arrived here on pure willpower, instinct, and a tad of demon blood. To say this woman was lucky was perhaps the understatement of the century.

Youko sighed, wondering when Trisha would get up. It was late now and they would only have two days to find Akagi and her male fox demon companion.

He spent another moment, just gazing at her, when the door opened and Hiei, Yusuke, Kaito and Botan walked in.

"Shui—I mean Youko." Kaito greeted. Youko turned his head and nodded at the human.

"Hiei's going to take Botan and Kaito back. What're the stats on that one besides big boobs and long legs?" Yusuke winked, causing Youko to smirk. Botan punched him for being lewd and he stuck his tongue out at her.

"She's been marked." Youko explained. Yusuke raised an impatient eye brow and Hiei minutely narrowed his eyes. Kaito remained silent to await further information and Botan appeared to be concerned.

"What the hell does that mean?" Yusuke bluntly asked.

"It's like sex, detective. But not really." Hiei snapped and Yusuke gagged.

"That is not exactly it. It is an ancient ritual that died out long ago. When a demon finds a concubine to his or her liking, he or she marks the reciever during the ritual. This is done by injecting venom into the bloodstream. It feels euphoric, at least for humans. For demons it is painful, but no less personal. There comes a point during the ritual where the giver has to determine whether the concubine will be theirs permanently or temporarily. Most marks are temporary, lasting anywhere from days to years depending on the level of skill of the giver. Every mark is different and can have a wide range of effects that keep others givers away from the reciever."

"So it's like slavery." Yusuke bluntly spoke.

"Somewhat." Youko agreed. "Trisha had encountered two fox demons, one male and one female. She bargained for her safety and survival with my name. They had to do something to change her scent and help her survive. The male marked her and the female adorned her with her own belongings to mask her human scent. It was effective up until the moment she arrived in your territory, Yusuke."

"Oh. So no one has to die. They saved her. You freaked out like she cheated on you, bro." Yusuke grumbled.

"Regardless when she wakes she must be taken to the demon so he can remove the mark. Only the giver can remove the mark. My theory is either they want my life or my my help, otherwise they wouldn't have chanced saving her."

"Hn. Lucky, if you ask me." Hiei grumbled.

"You should count your blessings as well." Youko reminded.

"Hn. Whatever. I got her back in the end. Kurama can't complain." Hiei argued, crossing his arms.

"Want us to go with you?" Yusuke asked.

"No I do not feel that is necessary. Their scents are vaguely familiar and they did not seem to mean any harm." Youko explained.

"Well all right, I'm gonna kick these guys out and I'll be back." Yusuke replied. Youko nodded.

"I'll meet you halfway." Hiei mentioned before he grabbed Botan by her shirt and began to drag her away.

"H-Hiei! Tell Kurama I'll see him later! Bye Youko!" Botan exclaimed as Hiei began to tug Kaito as well. Kaito tugged back, angering the fire demon.

"What's the hold-up, human?" He growled.

"I want to leave her a note." Kaito explained. He flung a square, origami'd peice of parchment at Youko, who caught it expertly, and placed it on the table. Yusuke shot Youko a nod and without another word they all left.

-X-

"mmhphm..." Trisha suddenly groaned about an hour later, and touched her arms. "Why do I feel like crap?" She complained to herself and rolled over. "God what a weird dream... Hmmm...

...

...

Did I tell Masaya— Holy crap! _MASAYA!_"

Oh god! She fell asleep and was now probably late to go running with him— he was _totally_ going to hate her and WHOA!

There was a foreign object on the floor next to her bed and she tripped, hissing in pain. Her muscles felt _destroyed_. Had she put them through a grinder? It hurt to coordinate herself properly!

"Ouch! Ow!" She howled and tumbled forward. She was caught by something warm and shivered, realizing that her skin was considerably cool. What the hell was going on, again? _Where the hell am I, again?_

She opened her eyes and long, red hair came into her view, along with familiar toned arms, a white t-shirt, blue jeans and _super _familiar pumas.

"K-Kurama!" She jolted backwards, hurting her back. "OOOOOW!" There was just too much pain...

He steadied her and picked her up in melancholy silence. He seemed solemn so she tried to keep her howls of pain under control. Was he mad at her? That was a dumb question. Of _course _he was mad at her! She had just jeapordized his entire case and its secrecy!

"Was that dream real?" She asked him, confused, as he gently placed her down on the bed. She hoped everything was just a horrible nightmare, but with her luck that probably wasn't the case... Kurama nodded, seemingly disappointed. He silently began to heal her shredded muscles and watched her as she gazed at the mark on her arm, then touched her hair in curiosity.

Suddenly, she was glaring at him.

"I can't _believe _you took apart that hair style!" She seethed. Kurama gazed at her owlishly. She just nearly placed her entire body into an irreparable state and nearly forfeited her life and she was worried about someone else's hard work?

"Excuse me?" He queried, unsure if he had his facts straight.

"You heard me! Akagi-chan did an _awesome_ hairstyle on me! Jeez, I finally get my hair the way I want it and you brutally take it apart!" She huffed, pouting her lips. A light chuckle from Kurama's direction made her smile. Thankfully, she was always good at breaking tension.

"You can place the blame on Youko for that one." Kurama murmured and continued healing her. He seemed more at ease.

"Fine. Make him come out so I can kick his butt. I really liked the way she did my hair!" She joked. Kurama chuckled again.

"So, while we are trapped here for the moment, _do_ tell me about your day. I'm curious as to how you've gotten yourself into such a curious predicament." Kurama got straight to the point, like an angry parent. Trisha paled.

"Well..." Her voice faltered. She should have stayed in school... "You know how they say, 'when the cat's away the mice will play'...?"

-X-

Well that was a doozey of a story to tell. Kurama was shaking his head in disappointment... or disbelief. She couldn't quite tell.

"You certainly have a sense of adventure..." He murmured quietly. "I can at least attest to that..."

"Yeah, well can you blame me for wanting to show a nerd a good time?" She shrugged in a very Yusuke-esque manner. "Anyway, I really need you to do me a favor... those fox demons, well... apparently this mark will kill me if I don't return in the next couple of days. They really wanted to meet Youko and I _swear _I'll take any penalty if you could just ask him to meet them... please?" She gazed up at him with her best impression of puppy dog eyes.

"Youko has already decided that he would do so." Kurama explained calmly.

"What?" She queried now confused.

... Well... that was easy. Kurama shrugged nonchalantly.

"He had figured most of your story out long ago. Your friend left a message written all over you in blood as well. It was very clever, and creative." He added.

"Well yeah, I figured Akagi was a bit of an artist..." She began to scratch at the mark on her arm. "God... why is this thing SO itchy?" She grumbled, scraping the marked skin and only succeeding in inflaming it further.

"Don't scratch it, you will worsen the issue. It is reacting to the distance between you and Akaru." Kurama warned, placing a gentle hand atop hers, then removing it once she stopped.

"Jeez, what a weird mark. It was kinda cool though. It gave me awesome powers when I was in trouble." She joked.

"It is far from 'cool', Trisha..." Kurama trailed off in a serious tone.

"What do you mean?" She asked, watching him heal her calves. Her legs were beginning to feel much better. She hoped it wasn't too much trouble for Kurama to help her out...

"This mark... it respresents a very ancient and very personal tradition that you should never accept from another demon _ever_ again. You are lucky it is reversible. This time Had your friend "Akaru" lost control while he marked you, you would have been his personal attachment for the rest of your life. He was not very experienced in such matters and it would be unlikely that you'd have been saved from that fate should the situation have gone that far." Trisha could tell he was trying not to lecture her, but was failing in keeping the chastising ring out of his tone. She must have really worried him...

... ... ... What... ... ... _the hell_? Was she missing something here?

"Why do you talk about it like I lost my virginity or something? Akaru was all weird too when he went to go mark me. Am I missing something?" She asked, annoyed. It was about time she learned about the "mark" anyway! Everyone refused to explain it! Kurama sighed like only an old man could.

"It is like consumating a relationship. It marks you as his _property_." He spoke the word as if it were the very essense of AIDS itself...

... ... ...Oh. ... ... ... _Ew_.

"Ew. _Never _with someone like _him. Ever. ... ... _Are you sure it can be removed!?" She panicked, grabbing his sleeve. Kurama chuckled at her volatile reaction.

"_Relieved, Youko?" _Shuichi queried. He knew it made the fox demon happy that the mark was put on her without her knowing the full nature of the ritual. Had she been aware of what it was she probably would have taken her chances running at human speeds and hiding on her own.

The ancient within him did not respond. However, he didn't need to; Kurama knew his feelings.

"Yes, the mark he left is only temporary. Rest assured as soon as you are well we will find Akaru and Akagi and request that they remove it completely." He spoke in a relaxed tone.

Trisha sighed in relief. _Thank God... Akaru was a jerk anyway... It would SUCK to "belong" to him. Yuck. Perverted and gross. Grossgrossgross! _

She smiled at Kurama in releif.

"You know... I don't think I'll ever skip school again..." She murmured half to herself and half to Kurama.

"Oh... After your penalty you most likely will not... _do_ rest assured, Trisha; I intend to stay true to that statement." Kurama murmured with a hint of danger in his tone.

Trisha paled... oh no... she'd rather just run away...

"On second thought... I think I'll just take my chances here, in Demon World..." She laughed nervously.

"I agree. That sounds like a _fantastic_ idea, Trisha." Kurama smiled; but it was a smile that lacked warmth. It was a smile that told her she was going to suffer... plenty. A knock came at her door.

"Knock knock! Hope no one's screwing around in there! Pray you're decent, I'm coming in!" Came the sound of a rambunctious, male voice.

Trisha looked up. Oh, it was the boy that was with Kurama when they found her just outside Raizen's territory. She blinked at the man in curiosity.

"Well well, look who's awake... it's the long lost sister I never knew I had." The man leered. " 'Sup?"

What the hell was he talking about? Long lost sister?

"Yusuke, try not to confuse her, please." Kurama almost groaned. Wait? _This _was Yusuke? He didn't look as scary as Akagi and Akaru made him out to be...

"Wait, does that make her a sister or a cousin?" Yusuke seemed confused. He furrowed his brows and placed a thumb and index finger on his chin in thought.

"Kurama... _you _know the son of the demon king Raizen?" Trisha asked. Kurama smiled and nodded affirmitively.

"He was a human first before he became known as the "son of Raizen". Please try not to inflate his ego. It may fill this room and suffocate us both." Kurama joked, lightly.

"Hey shut up, fox-boy! _I'm_ sooooo awesome; even humans who have no clue who I am know who I am! You're just jealous that I'm the new boogey man of all three realms!" Yusuke stuck his tongue out at Kurama who chuckled in response at his refreshing confidence.

"Yusuke what you said only partially makes sense." Kurama reminded. Yusuke shrugged and crashed on the bed next to Trisha.

"'So yeah. I'm Yusuke Urameshi." He introduce himself with a world of confidence. Trisha laughed.

"Hi. I'm Trisha. 'Nice to know I'm not the only one who sprouts tattoos when I'm in danger." She joked.

"Speaking of which, why aren't yours going away?" Yusuke asked, pointing to her arms and legs with furrowed brows. She happened to appreciate his confused expression; it put an image to what she was feeling on the inside. She shrugged in response. That was a question for Kurama to answer. He always seemed to just _know _everything.

"Akaru's mark is stimulating her demon blood. When it is removed the rest of the markings will disappear." The redhead explained as if on cue, revealing a folded peice of paper. He handed it to Trisha when he finished healing her muscles.

"This is from Kaito. He has asked me to give it to you." He explained. Trisha nodded and unfolded the parchment.

"What's it say? Is it a cheesy love letter/poem that involves rhyming math problems or something?" Yusuke asked like a nosy younger sibling. Trisha glared at him and punched his shoulder.

"Kaito's not _that _nerdy. Plus he likes someone else!" She snapped and began to read through the letter.

"_Trisha, I deeply apologize for being unable to help you in your time of need. I'm not much for fighting. Intelligence is where I am most useful; that much, I believe, is most likely obvious to you. With that being said, I am almost one undred percent positive that you will panic about Masaya once you awake. I would like you to know that I have notified him that you are in the hospital for a minor stomach flu. As for your parents, I have informed your sister that you are attending a study group at Shuichi's house. She seemed angry, but I believe word will spread to your family sooner or later. I don't believe they will look for you for quite some time. Please take care of yourself, _

_ Your friend, Kaito" _

Trisha smiled. It was nice of Kaito to take care of the mess she left ebhind in the Human World. Now she wouldn't have to come up with excuses when she got back. Instantly, it felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of her shoulders.

"If you're done we should hurry. I need to be home by tonight." Trisha explained. "Kaito, bless his soul, thought a few steps ahead and covered for me. We shouldn't waste his efforts." She spoke in a half commanding tone. Somewhere from within himself, Kurama felt Youko stir at her words. She was right in every way... Her determination obviously shocked the ancient. For a human girl, she was quite resiliant, even with only five percent of demon blood in her veins.

"Very well then. Yusuke, we must be off." Kurama stood abruptly.

"Riiiiight. Take care, children. No unauthorized sex, ya hear?" Yusuke jeered in response.

Trisha decked his shouler again. Yusuke blew her a rasberry and she laughed. Yusuke was surprisingly easy to get along with. He was true "bro" material. The former spirit detective watched Kurama pick his new friend/family member up and jump out the window while simultaneously transforming into Youko.

-X-

A few hours later, Trisha was trudging behind Youko in pitch blackness. She had no idea how the demon could see in such darkness. Not a single star hovered over this part of demon world, not even a single moon. She could see shilouettes of trees and bushes, but besides the faint glow from bugs that were demon world's equivalent to human world's lightning bugs, there was no light.

She clutched his shirt tighter and frowned. She felt as if she were walking through a dream when they walked into a thick fog. Youko nearly disappeared in the fog and she stepped closer to him to avoid losing him in the silver mist that he seemed to match almost perfectly.

"Afraid?" He murmured, of course in a mischeivous way. She could amost _feel _him raising a curious brow.

"Mmm... Kinda..." Trisha replied honestly. "How do you know where you're going?" She asked, finally unable to contain her curiosity.

"Scent." He replied nonchalantly.

"Really?" She asked.

"There is no need to lie." He responded. "Foxes are canines. We have an incredible sense of smell."

"Mhm... ..."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!

Suddenly Trisha jumped and yelped in response to a scream she swore she heard just above her head. She was clutching onto Youko's back like a lifeline and the fox demon couldn't help but laugh at her.

"It's n-n-not funny!" She argued, shaking minutely.

"That was just a murder-bird. It screeches in its sleep at night." The nonchalant fox demon explained.

"...It sounded like some lady was getting her skin ripped off." She shuddered at the thought.

"Somewhat." Youko joked.

"Wh-what!? How would you know!" She jumped back from him. He chuckled again.

"It was only a joke. Please relax." She sighed in relief. _Thank God... _ "Stay close." He reminded and gently took her hand in his.

Nervous, she squeezed his hand and walked just a pace behind him. That was mostly due to the fact that he was so much taller than her. She tried to keep up but it was useless. He seemed to notice her distress and slowed down for her. He forgot that he was so much taller.

"Sorry." She mumbled. "You can carry me again if you think it'll get us there faster... I just feel bad being a ball and chain..." Youko's hair ghosted her naked shoulder as he shook his head.

"I enjoy carrying you." He revealed honestly and she blushed. His voice was so similar to Kurama's... except it was deeper and sultrier. She shuddered as she remembered the day he spoke so seductively to her. It was wonderfu—

She shrieked as a terrible pain shot through her mind and the mark on her wrist glowed an angry red.

"Ooooooooow!" She howled. Her knees landed on the soft, stinky grass beneath her feet and she placed her palms to her stinging eyeballs. Youko was kneeling down next to her instantaneously, healing the pain in her head as best as he could.

"Relax. Think of something platonic." She heard his voice through the sea of hurt in her psyche.

She gritted her teeth.

"Like what." She growled.

Lamps. Lamps were boring. They were practical. They came in many shapes and colors.

Wham. The headache went away as if it were never there to beginwith. Youko had threaded his fingers through her hair and was now gently massaging her scalp.

Mmmmm... it felt wonderful...

She slowly closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensation.

"It appears your pig of a friend is quite the jealous type." Youko sniffed.

Trisha's eyes snapped open.

"What?" Her blue eyes met Youko's irate expression. The fox demon helped her to her feet.

"That mark prevents you from thinking about anyone else in a romantic way. It is one of the worst symptoms that can possibly spawn from a mark like that. It also tells us a bit of what he was thinking when he placed it upon you..." Youko explained an continued walking, holding her hand.

"Huh?" That was a retarded notion. That would mean Akaru marked her, thinking that he didn't want her thinking of anyone else in a romantic light. Possessive boyfriend much?

But the thing was that Akaru acted like he _hated _her... Right? "That's dumb. Akaru wanted nothing to do with me. Why the hell would he ever think to keep _me _loyal to _him_? He only met me once! And it was during a heated pursuit! That's some hardcore shipping right there!" She exclaimed. Youko's left silver brow rose in confusion.

"Shipping?" He queried. An image of a ship flitted through his mind. He smirked to himself as he pictured the pirate version of Trisha being the captain of it.

"Nevermind..." She mumbled to herself.

" '_Shipping' is when a person—usually one that is viewing a drama or reading a book— predicts two characters to eventually fall in love, usually for superficial reasons such as appearance or friendliness, or even as simple as one character looking at another. She means to say that Akaru stuck himself to her for no readily apparent reason." _

"_Thank you, Shuichi." _Youko responded, appreciating his human halve's attentiveness.

"Regardless somewhere in his mind he did not want you to even think of another man in a romantic light, which I may add, I find flattering." Youko explained, confidently stroking his own ego. Trisha remained silent. Youko felt her hand heat up. Perhaps he was making her nervous? If so, excellent. Shuichi was certainly paying attention and it would be beneficial for him to see what he was missing out on.

"Well that's a little bit odd and obsessive, if you ask me." She quietly snapped, ignoring the way the fox demon implied that she saw him in a romantic light. If she had to be honest, she would say she really liked Kurama. Or Shuichi. The human half. Whatever. But if she really thought about it, Shuichi and Youko were quite similar. Of course, Youko had three hundred years of wisdom and a mischevous streak that usually entailed perverse matters, but still. They were like the same person, only different. She would have to admit that she liked them both equally. But of course... she would never say such a thing. They may have been similar, but they were different as well. Youko was promiscuous and _did_ hit on her and flirt with her—like he probably did with every female he met— but Kurama/Shuichi was clearly aboard the "Botan" train. If she said anything about how she felt for either of them, there would be complications in their friendship she just couldn't and absolutely _wouldn't_ risk creating.

Another murder-bird screamed in the distance and Youko felt Trisha's small hand squeeze his bigger one tighter.

"Some demons form unexplainable attachments to the things they mark." Youko explained in response to her previous comment.

"Like love at first sight? Or in this case, _bite_?" She asked in a disgusted tone.

Youko chuckled. Trisha had a way of making serious and life-threatening situations light and relaxing.

"Something of the sort." He responded lightly.

"Oh. Weird. Just weird..." She mumbled, shaking her head of long, brown hair.

"We should stop here for the night." He suggested. "I smell a bloodbath several acres ahead. We may walk into it if we continue. It is best to ride it out." He elaborated. Of course, he could just run past it with her in his arms, but that would mean he would have less time to spend with her. Of course, that just _wouldn't _do.

"Oh. Okay whatever. You can't just run past it?" She asked. He smirked to himself. She was sharp, he had to give her that.

Youko shook his head and his hair tickled her shoulders again. She was literally _itching _to get the mark off of her. Knowing more about it made it all the more weirder to tote it around on her wrist.

"I will not risk putting your life in danger. If you happened to get caught in the crossfire it would be unfavorable for both of us." Youko explained, then scented the air. He walked over to a fallen log and leaned his head against it.

Trisha stared at him, still standing. He gazed up at her and decided she was beautiful from this angle as well.

"Hmm?" He queried. Was she not going to join him?

"We're just going to sit and wait?" She asked as if it were a waste of time. He nodded, honey eyes studying her curiously. Akagi's outfit was beautiful on her. It practically electrified her skin color. She seemed to glow in the dim light of the insects around them.

She huffed and sat down next to him, placing her elbows on her knees. He watched her cross her eyes in an attempt to stare at a bug on the tip of her nose. She seemed really eager to think about anything else that didn't involve the mark on her wrist. He knew it was wrong to relish in her discomfort at having a mark, but he couldn't help himself. He liked that she didn't particularly like Akaru. It was selfish, but it was true.

"These things don't look much different to the ones in Human World..." She mentioned as she egged the bug onto her finger. She blinked a few times to straighten out her eyes and gazed at the bug, now crawling up the tip of her index finger, curiously. Youko sat up and watched it with her.

It had been a long, long time since he was able to just sit and enjoy something... He scented the air again. The battle had not moved from where it was happening before. Fresh blood was still being spilt.

Trisha yawned out of boredom and the bug zoomed off of her finger.

"So... have you marked anyone before?" Such an innocently and hesitantly asked question completely shattered his peace of mind. How to respond to it? With the truth? He supposed it was the best route. Something about lying to her made the pit of his stomach churn violently anyway.

"I do not remember, unfortunately." He responded, then narrowed his eyes at the ground as he actually _tried _to remember.

He could remember moans of ecstasy and feminine voices each crying out his full name in heated passion, but he could not remember any faces, or if he had marked any particular bodies.

"Three hundred years is a lot of memories..." She murmured, wisely enough.

"If only you knew. Humans are fortunate. In terms of strength and chances of survival, they fall short, however, when one switches the topic to happiness... humans excel. They are able to find peace and happiness before death. Demons largely die in emptiness and pain..."

"It depends on what your definition of happiness is." Trisha responded with a frown, clearly upset that demons did not live happy lives. "There are many people out there who are unhappy. It's stupid, really. It's easy to be happy. You just have to _decide _ to be happy. To me, being upset or sad is hard. I find it diffcult to just give up..." She explained. "But you're right, compared to dying like a demon, dying like a human is much nicer... not that dying is nice or anything, of course... Anyway... speaking of which, what makes you happy, Youko?"

"Wise words from someone seventeen years young." Youko responded. "I do not believe I have a definition of happiness. I have never felt happiness, thus I cannot imagine what it would be for me."

"Really? Not even when you're free to do anything because no one will mess with you?" She asked almost in disbelief. Who _wouldn't_ want to just _do_ things just because they could? In that sense, Trisha understood demons completely. They were strong. They were powerful. They could easily conquer humans. Easily. Of course, humans tried to conquer other humans throughout history as well; a prime example being when white people tried to enslave black people long, long ago. This made her wonder... had humans and demons come from the same place? Was it in every living creature's _nature _to dominate all those percieved weaker or lesser than themselves before the inevitability of death? Were humans and demons just light and dark shades of a spectrum, or were they all just muddled clumps of grey? After all... there were humans that did evil things and demons that did strictly good things...

...Interesting...

"Such a life becomes dull after a time." Youko responded.

"Mhm... You've never even felt happy after you know... having sex with someone?" She felt her cheeks redden. Why was this topic so embarassing around him?

Youko chuckled. Such a naiive, innocent woman. She was still so virgin and pure. It made him feel momentarily guilty for the hordes of women he had copulated with in his past. Had he known he would have met someone like her in his future, he might just have waited for her... possibly... Three hundred years was a long, _long_ time...

"Reply honestly." She reminded him his moment of pause. He caught sight of a faint blush on her cheeks as a bug zoomed past her face.

"No. Intercourse, naturally, is by far satisfying, but it does not bring happiness." He explained.

"You've never had children to bring you happiness in the three hundred years you've been happy? Even humans who can't find a single thing _not _to hate find happiness in their children!" She vehemently argued. There had to be something... _anything _that made him happy!

"If I've fathered children I have no knowledge of them." He replied honestly.

She turned to him; shocked. There might be little Youkos running around somewhere in demon world and he had no idea? No idea _whatsoever_?

"You've never been in love." She stated almost in disbelief. "In_ three hundred years_?"

"Not exactly, no. I have no concept of love, other than parental..." He frowned. That wasn't honest. What he felt Shuichi feel around Botan must be love, but could Youko be sure? What did it mean to love someone or be _in _love with someone?

"Not even from Kura— I mean, Shuichi?" She blurted accientally.

Oops.

"You mean to ask if I've ever experienced love through Shuichi and his emotions?" He asked for clarification, tone just hinting at steely. Trisha felt like she was treading on eggshells. Maybe this wasn't the right time for this conversation?

She shut up. It wasn't right to nose around in someone else's business. That was like asking a girl's closest friend if the girl liked Trisha's crush or something. It just wasn't her business at all.

He seemed to be waiting for her to respond.

"Hmm?" He lazily drawled.

How could he be so calm!?

"Nevermind, it's not my place to pry." She rectified. "Sorry. I got too curious."

She heard him shake his head. He was surprisingly easy to get along with, like Yusuke. Maybe it was his old age and his calming wisdom... That thought made her realize that she was definitely a weirdo. She had maybe one or two human friends and twice that amount in demon friends. What kind of freak made better friends with demons than with humans? Only her. Only Trisha... yep.

"Trisha?" He asked after several minutes of silence.

"Y-yeah?" She asked, startled that he spoke. She flinched as she heard a murder-bird scream from somewhere in their area.

"Please say my name." He asked. Her eyes widened in shock. What? Why did his tone sound so minutely... _melancholy? _

"Youko." She spoke. "Youko Kurama... the great fox demon theif." She smiled at his title. She could feel the smirk in his chuckle.

"Thank you." He spoke gratefully.

Another few minutes passed. To Trisha it seemed like her heart was pounding hard for _hours_.

"Why did you want me to say your name?" She finally found the courage to ask.

He was silent for several moments. She wondered what his ancient mind was concocting during the silence.

"Because I like it when you say my name. You say it differently. I think it makes me happy."

"Differently?" She asked, heart thudding wildly. Happy? He thought it made him happy? But he didn't know what happiness was... what the hell was going on? Was he just playing with her? Did he like getting her hopes up? That was a little bit sadistic but she wouldn't put it past him. He was Youko Kurama. He probably had a curious sense of humor.

"Yes. Differently."

_Woooow... pretty descrptive over there, Youko... Thank you SO kindly for elaborating... _

Despite her annoyed thoughts, she decided not to pester him further about the subject and treat him normally; like she would treat a friend. It was just easier than treating him like he was the guy she liked. Hmph. It was so much easier not having feelings for someone. Was that the human in her talking, or her demon half...?

Youko was thankful for the momentary silence. He needed time to ingrain her voice into his memory. Every woman had either spoken his name in lust, shock, fear or pain. She was the only one who said it with a hint of curiosity, as if he were a puzzle for her to solve. He appreciated being viewed differently for once. He was sure he would never feel so comfortable in the presence of another ever again.

A murder bird screamed again. He became annoyed and steathily killed it with a seed he launched with his spirit energy.

He decided that things that made Trisha uncomfortable annoyed him... greatly.

"If you're tense you can move closer." He explained. "Unlike some, I do not bite." Again, the mischevous tone. She giggled lightheartedly in response. The joke was made at Akaru's expense and she was glad that Youko, despite how ancient he was, still had the energy to joke around.

She scooted closer to him, almost until she could feel the heat radiating from his body. It sent pleasant goosebumps up her arms and legs.

Very suddenly, he boldly wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close to his side. She decided not to look at it as a romantic gesture, even though it was very difficult to see his actions in a platonic way.

"Please say something the next time you become so cold." He voiced in a smooth tone.

"I-I didn't realize I was cold... thanks..." She responded lamely, but curled into him anyway. In response, his large hand tightened around her shoulder and he exhaled in relaxation. Youko was so, _so _deliciously comfortable...

"You may as well nap. It seems like the battle ahead is heated and brutal. It does not appear to be ending anytime soon." He notified.

"Mhm..." His words were wasted because she had already slinked her small arm across his torso and was quickly falling asleep.

He decided he would allow himself a nap as well. This was, after all, the last time he would enjoy a moment like this with her... Somewhere inside, he hoped she would quickly unlock her demonic capabilities to their fullest extent and cease to age. Perhaps when Shuichi would finish living his life, this woman would still be around to love him, if she was not already dead or taken... It was a foolish notion to even consider, but it was nice to dream of such a situation.

-X-

Well... damn... did Youko just get friendzoned for coming on too strong? Pffft. Yeah right! As IF someone so sexy could EVER get friendzoned!

SO here is my effort to get to know my readers! I'm going to post a few questions and YOU my beautiful wonderful readers, are going to respond! I'll give my own answer to the questions asked in the next chapter!

Question 1:

What is your favorite color!?

Question 2:

What was your favorite scene so far in this fic and why?

See you later, Space Cowboy!

Oh yeah and leave some reviews!

I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho. If I did, I would have SO totally put Trisha in there! :p


	17. Possessed

WEEDS CAN TURN INTO FLOWERS |17|

WOOOOOO CHAPTER SEVENTEEN! I NEVER THOUGHT I'D GET THIS FAAAR!

Before we start; a few IMPORTANT things...

Yes, I screwed up. **Foxes are not canines**. A very intelligent reader informed me of that. OOPS! I'm sorry. I'm a 90's kid. When I was in school, they taught us that foxes were "technically canines." I was like O_O *Vomits rainbows* COOOOOOOOL! But yes, I'm sincerely sorry for that blunder! I was not up-to-date on that and I had no idea that that was so. I will probably go back and fix that. Again, sorry! And thank you guys for letting me know! I highly appreciate it! =D

Trisha doesn't have an "abusive" family, no. That is absolutely one hundred percent correct. Does she have a family that isn't as close and isn't very attentive to her specifically for certain reasons? Yes. That was the family situation I was trying t get across. Trisha is average, let me tell you. She's as normal as they come. This is also true to her family situation. It's not the best situation, but it's not the absolute worst either. It is something to be slightly miffed about but nothing to turn her into a Hiei-esque character (which by the way, I am SO tired of the "teen angst" super miserable/badass Hiei-esque OC's. Honestly. No one ever makes anyone average with just the right hint of badass hidden under layers and layers and layers of lessons that have yet to be learned haha!). But yeah, her life is "_just so"_ just to make her mentally tough enough for what she must endure throughout this fanfiction.

Anyway, I think I kinda screwed that whole image up in the earlier chapters; and for that I sincrely apologize. I don't recall actually mentioning this, so I'm going to say it here:

She was adopted because her parents assumed they couldn't have children. At that point, they loved her very much until she was aout three years old; maybe four; just old enough to remember... Then they found out they were pregnant. And had their own bilogical child... and then that was when Trisha had to become responsible and that was when the neglect/growing up a _little_ fast began.

This is a psychological phenomenon/situation that happens to certain parents. They are enamored with their bilogical child more than their step child. It's normal on a very primitive level. Before civilization and when we were nomads basically why just survived for a living, _generally and with exceptions of course_: one who was of your own blood would take precedence over the freeloader that you picked up and let join your clan because you thought they might be beneficial at some point, you know?

Thus because the parents were more attentive to their biological child, not out of spite, but out of latent _instinct_, Alyssa grew to be spoiled and Trisha is mildly troubled. _Troubled._ Not angsty, dark, or depressed. Just troubled. She wants to feel like she's a part of something but doesn't feel so at home, so naturally she distances herself, DID distance herself, (SPOILER ALERT FOR SAO) like Kirito in SAO. (SPOILER OVER) So by distancing herself, she upset her parents because they felt that she didn't/doesn't "contribute" much to their family circle, unlike Alyssa, who is basically their "cash cow" and "miracle-child".

Now, cue in Trisha's dad, who is a bit more attentive now that she had the gall to throw Alyssa's slutiness into his face. He's noticing that Trisha is flourishing and that the fashion industry is destroying his daughter, although he will probably not come out and just say that these thoughts occurred to him because, well, he's a man and he's a father. It's hard for parents to own up to their mistakes/failures. I can tell you at least that that's how my mom functions still to this day. However, now he wants to become more of a father to Trisha, which is why he told her he was proud of her a couple of chapters ago. He's trying to fix things and in general be a good daddy to _both_ of his daughters! Anyway, how do you start fixing a broken relationship? You say you're sorry and start adding optimism to it and the other person usually reciprocates! So in how own stoic way, the man did so. So I hope that kind of gives you guys a better picture!

I'm really REALLY glad you guys are enjoying this story! I'm so happy that some of you think that my writing is better now than it was before. I like it better as well. I still do have a minor issue with rushing through things, but thankfully I'm remembering to breathe and just take it slow. =] I really appreciate every review I get! –Heart—

I might go back and rewrite the previous chapters Maybe. Possibly. Maybe. I don't know. I would only change minor things. I was kind of a bit of a youngster when I wrote them originally and my mentally has changed so much that I'm amazed at what has been written before. I don't know if I can do a successful rewrite and splice my current writing style with my previous one. *Laughs* Though that might make for an interesting experiment!

Anyway! Onwards!

-X-

Trisha awoke to the sound of rushing, whipping wind. Someone was obviously carrying her by the way she felt like she was floating up and then dropping down and then floating up again. She lifted her head and realized that Youko was jumping from tree branch to tree branch and they were in a completely different forest than before. It was sunset and the pink and orange sky above the thin canopy of trees greeted her. Slowly, but steadily, the canopy of trees grew thicker and only slivers of fading light could be seen through the tiny breaks in the seamless sea of leaves.

"Youko?" She queried. He stopped on a branch and set her down. How did he just seem to understand that she wanted to be on her feet? She gave the tree branch beneath her a weary look. It was thick, but what if she fell? Mentally shrugging she stretched and yawned like a cat, much to Youko's amusement. The fox demon lazily leaned against the trunk of the tree and watched her as she smoothed her wind-whipped hair.

"Did you rest well?" He asked, so formally as usually.

"Yeah, better than in my own bed." She smiled. A wicked glint flickered in his eyes accompanied with an equally wicked smirk, and she could almost _see _the flirtatious sentence scrawl across his handsome face, but wisely, he held his tongue. "How long have I slept? A whole day? It's already sunset?" She asked. Youko shook his head.

"We were in the forest of Perpetual Night. A curse resides over that specific area of Demon World that causes an endless blackness upon that area. We were fortunate we did not run into any spiritual illnesses. Only a few hours have passed since you've fallen asleep in actuality." He explained in his deep tone. Again, she found that she enjoyed his voice and immediately her headache came on. She thought about swimming and Luna and how she severely missed both and it went away. Stupid Akaru and his _stupid _infernally jealous mark...

"We are only a sixteenth of an acre away from your 'friends'. Would you like to walk the rest of the way?" Youko asked, curiously.

"What's a sixteenth of an acre? You guys don't use kilometers or miles. I have no idea how far that is." Trisha laughed. She supposed each culture had its own quirks. Youko chuckled and the sound made her blush. Lamps, cats, lion, tigers, bears... closets! The headache was shortened into a very painful pang in her forehead, thanks to her quick thinking.

"It matters not. They know you are close. If you please..." He held out his arms expectantly. She quirked an eyebrow. Was she supposed to just jump into his arms? He shook his head as if silently chastising himself for forgetting her quirks and scooped her up as if she were a child. She lightly squeaked at his strength and tightened her grip around his neck when he took off.

_I can't wait to see my cat... Luna... I miss you my son. _She lamented in her mind as the scenery drifted past her at impossible speeds. She assumed she was able to see some minor details only because the demon blood in her was still mildly activated.

Suddenly Youko came to a near-screeching halt and she was tackled into the ground from his arms by none other than Akagi who was currently in the process of squeezing her tightly.

"We thought you'd never come!" She exclaimed. Trisha was too busy trying to breathe properly in her crushing grip to respond. Akagi must have realized what she was doing when Youko growled and suddenly let go to take Trisha in from head to toe.

The partially human girl took a deep breath, thanking God in all his glory for creating air.

"What happened to your hair?" Akagi asked with a frown after scanning her thoroughly. Trisha blushed and shamelessly pointed to Youko, throwing the elder under the bus. Akagi seemed to remember that the infamous fox-thief was right behind her. She was on her feet instantly, her back to Trisha.

"Youko-Kurama-sama!" She bowed low... _super_ low. Suddenly Akaru just..._appeared._ He was disheveled, sweaty and covered in blood. He dropped a large, evil-gremlin-looking, decrepit demon to the ground. His wild eyes met hers and he dropped to his knees in front of her, his face mere inches away from hers. She ignored him to scoot wildly away from the decaying body on the ground next to her.

"Ew! It's dead! Like _really _dead!" There were some odd insects coming out of its mouth and bleeding, wounded eyes. She gaped at Akaru who gave her a confused look. How could he be so nonchalant!?

"...It's... dinner?" He corrected, uncertainly. "I can't believe you made it!" He shook his head free of their cultural misunderstanding and smirked. "You're one crazy human girl!" He complemented in his own "Akaru" way.

Trisha grimaced at the body but then laughed to ignore it. When all else fails... smile... smile like you know what you're doing...

"I tried my best. Thanks for the help and all, but I held up my end of the deal..." She held up her wrist at this point. "So hold up your end. I need this off. I need to go home." She explained. "It's keeping the marks on my skin and I think they're cool and all, but I need them off in order for my life to go back to normal in human world, you know?" She asked as nicely and inoffensively as possible.

Akaru glared at her, a betrayed, hurt look on his face.

"No." He nearly bit out. Confused, Trisha paused for a moment. Wait, what? _What in hell does he mean, "no"? _She took a breath to argue back and call Akaru a creepy, pervy idiot, but her instincts kicked in and she shivered upon feeling an awful, awful aura. Akaru shuddered as well... he must've felt it too...

"That one does not belong to you..." Youko murderously spoke. His deep tone was frightening when there was pure merciless malice in it... He was also much, much taller than Akaru, and much _much _stronger and battle-experienced. Akaru would be a fool to go against his wishes...

The red-haired-demon's eyes flitted left, towards his sister, then right towards a large cluster of bamboo shacks that looked like homes, where small fox-demon-children ran in and out of with tops and balls and dolls, then up at Youko, who was now towering over him. His ears pinned back and he decided not to fight against someone two hundred years his senior. Smart move...

"I...I don't know how to remove it..." The young fox demon shamefully admitted. His dark gaze fell to the floor, coal orbs distraught and embarrassed A short moment of silenced befell the small group. No one was surprised.

"That is why I am here to teach you to undo what you did, child." Youko explained, pacified that Akaru's rejection was only to cover up the fact that he really did not know what he was doing. "You will watch and you will learn."

-X-

Once inside Akagi and Akaru's bamboo hut, Youko marked Akagi, much to Akaru's disappointment and vehement detest. Then he took the venom out with his spirit energy and showed Akaru how the process worked, step, by grueling, detailed, step. Once Akaru demonstrated the technique on a demon bird, much to his chagrin, successfully, he was allowed to remove the mark from Trisha. As soon as the mark was gone, Trisha's "demon designs" as she and Akagi jokingly labeled them, completely disappeared. He process was painless and absolutely nothing like recieving the mark. The tattoo disappeared completely.

"Now that that's taken care of..." Akagi's previous joking tone suddenly became serious. "Youko-Kurama-sama... I believe I will have to ask you a light favor..." She voiced confidently. Somewhere deep inside, Trisha was proud of Akagi and wanted to be like her. She spoke to someone so much older, wiser and more powerful than her with such certainty in her tone.

Youko, now sitting cross-legged in the bamboo hut on the other side of a low wooden table, raised an eyebrow to signify that he was listening and wanted Akagi to continue. Trisha scooted closer to Akagi and slightly turned to face her. Akaru sighed and leaned against a curved, bamboo wall, arms crossed in a similar fashion to Youko's. Apparently, Akaru looked up to Youko a lot. It was to be expected, however. Trisha figured that if she grew up listening to tales of the infamous and successful Youko Kurama she would want to be like him too.

"Our clanmother is ill... but it is not as simple as that." Akagi began. Youko refused to open his mouth. She squeezed her eyes shut and sighed, then decided to continue. "She saved a kit, no older than thirty a few years ago from the cursed territory. I believe you've traveled through it— the Forest of Perpetual Night... She was stung by an unknown insect and has since been growing weaker. She is an expert healer and tried very hard to combat the disease, however, her sanity has slowly been slipping. Now, she is unstable and chained, awaiting death. You are of her age and possibly may know more about the healing arts than even she. A few months ago, during one of her sane moments she told us that you, as legendary as you are, are the only one who is skilled enough to reverse her plight. She said you were currently residing in a human body in human world. Akagi and I took it upon ourselves to help the other elders search for a portal to the human world to find you." Akagi explained solemnly, her dark eyes troubled. She looked up at Youko who seemed cold.

"Will you say something?" Trisha suddenly snapped at Youko. Legendary and almighty or not, Akagi was hurt by the clanmother's illness. If these people lost their source of medicine... a lot worse could happen... Youko gave her a curious, yet hard look.

"Your human emotions decieve you. I have no obligation to help any clanmother." He sniffed with an almost attitude that made her blood boil.

Trisha's face fell along with her heart. Was he really serious? Was she really going to have to chew him out?

_I think my stomach just dropped to my intestines... God I can't believe I'm doing this... please help... _

She abruptly stood, her mind made up. Yep. Youko was going to get it. What that "it" was, she didn't quite yet know...

"Fine. Don't help. I _will_." Trisha yanked on Akagi's arm, pretending to be much more confident than she should be. "I don't even want to hear your stupid reason." She intoned coldly. Now, God forbid there was a minor earthquake... her intestines would drop out of her rectum with how nervous she was feeling.

"And what will you do, Trisha?" He tested. "Do you know which plants to use to combat which symptoms and the causes of those specific symptoms?" He queried, so obviously with much more intellect than she could ever have in her whole lifetime.

She felt her blood boil suddenly. Was her loss of saintly patience due to her becoming mostly a demon for a few hours? She didn't know. All she understood was that Youko was easily aggravating her. Being aware of this helped her calm herself to a cold kind of anger. Her icy rage was evident in her tone when she spoke.

"No. In fact, you're absolutely right in what you're insinuating. I know close to nothing. I will _never_ know as much as you do. But I _owe _Akagi and Akaru. They _saved _me. Even if it was because I dropped your name and they just so happened to be looking for you. They could have called me a liar up and down, but they listened, unlike so many demons I've met. They gave me things to help me survive; to get me to safety. In my eyes, my life has continued thanks to their kindness; as convenient as that kindness was at the time. This clanmother or whoever... I'm going to do my best to save her. I'll hunt for books all over demon world if I have to; regardless of having Ren on my tail or not. I'll do it, because that's what needs to be done... because that's the _right_ thing to do." Now she felt like Martin Luther King. Should she have started with, "I have a dream"?

With that she dragged Akagi out of the hut, asking her to show her where the clanmother was being kept.

When the two girls were far away enough, Youko met Akaru's cool, studious gaze and cocked an eyebrow. The young, usually hot-headed demon was uncharacteristically paying attention to everyone's interactions.

"You were testing her. It was obvious. Why?" The redhead asked. Akaru was certainly impulsive, but he could also read beneath the underneath when it was needed. Youko smirked in response.

"Because my human half is as mischeivous as I am. He is Trisha's teacher. He wanted to test her will." The older fox demon blamed his human half, much to Akaru's surprise. With that said, Youko rose to go after the girl and inform her that she had passed the afformentioned test and that he would certainly help.

Akaru shook his head and followed the older demon out. Some things he would just _never _understand.

-X-

About fifteen minutes later, the four were deep underground in a metal room. On the bed in the room lay the most beautiful silver-haired woman Trisha had ever seen. Her hair was the same shade as Youko's. Her outfit appeared to be white, where Trisha could see. Her beauty was damaged however...

The whole top half of her body was wrapped in a red straight-jacket that had a strange energy attached to it, probably to keep her spirit energy locked so she couldn't use it against anyone she didn't want to use it against. The woman had black, vein-like marks crawling up the side of her face and onto her eyelids. She really looked _ill_. It wasn't a normal type of ill, though, like being sick with the flu, or even cancer... it was a scary type of ill... like it was a type of sickness no one really knew about.

Youko's perceptive, honey eyes narrowed at the sight he saw. He felt as if he knew this woman. She smelled famiiar but his ancient mind could not pull up a memory for the life of him. Perhaps she would know _him _upon awakening...

Akagi and Akaru stepped in front of Trisha protectively and watched as Youko approached the woman, and boldly shook her shoulder. Her eyes snapped open and she shrieked so loudly, Trisha could feel her ear drums vibrating. It was a possessed kind of shriek. She shuddered. Akaru placed a comforting, albeit awkward hand on her shoulder while using his other hand to hold down his fox ears so he wouldn't hear the horrible voice that seemed to penetrate everyone's minds.

Trisha kept her eyes on Youko. He seemed unaffected. In fact, his expression looked calm, and possibly even slightly bored. The woman was now in a seated position, though it didn't appear that she would be moving from it. There were chains on the steel wall behind her, connected to the straight jacket to keep her at bay.

Hey eyes were honey, much like Youko's, however they were bastardized by the tiny black vein-like marks that decorated the whites. She looked evil... haunted... insane... _possessed_. Once the scream was over, the woman chuckled... _creepily..._ Her voice was the raspy version of vocal chords that were once most likely melodious and pleasant to listen to. It would seem that this woman spent much time screaming... The chuckle from the woman was so frightening, Trisha though it was horror-movie worthy.

"You've brought a fox and a legendary flower maiden. My, my, how ripe both are for the taking!" She babbled and laughed insanely afterwards. "Bring the human girl... her blood will taste the best! Her blood will taste the best to _all_ kitsune!" She cackled again.

However, she didn't laugh for long...

Youko hit her. Hard. The strike interrupted her insane laughter and though Trisha felt awful, she was also quite relieved. She gasped audily, however when she wondered, what exactly, Youko was thinking... How could he hit a sick person!? Even Akagi and Akaru winced. The backhanded slap was SO powerful Trisha was sure some of the bones in the woman's once-beautiful face broke! In fact she was certain she heard a sickening crack somewhere after she felt the relief from the woman's interrupted laughter.

The strike must have worked, however, because she suddenly began to breathe heavily, but calmly, like she needed a good whack upside the head to function properly...

"H-Help me... please, take a vial of blood to test while I am sane!" She shouted in her rasped voice once her eyes registered Youko. "Akaru... Akagi... I love you both... you did well!" She began to sob so miserably, Trisha had to hold herself back from crying. This woman was so tortured... "Hurry! Before it comes back!" Her words were difficult to form through her broken jaw, but at least they were sane...

Youko quickly dropped a seed that grew into a plant that reminded Trisha of a pokemon... She couldn't quite remember the name but it was bell-shaped with a mouth and a long tongue. The tongue had tiny suction cups on it that attached themselves around the woman's neck and took her blood. Just as the plant finished and retreated behind Youko, the woman gasped. Suddenly, she began having an epileptic seizure.

"Sevili-sama!" Akagi shouted like a hurt puppy, but one stern look from Youko kept the redheaded fox demon in her place, despite how tensed and ready for action she appeared to be.

"She has not eaten nor hydrated herself in some time. The blood I took was of a minimal amount, yet she has seized due to lack of blood flow o the brain. I will work on her cure while you two pump nutrition into her system. Trisha, please accompany me." His tone bore no refusals or arguments. However... Trisha had to protest. She tried to be as gentle about it as possible...

"But Youko I—

"You will come with me and stand at my side or I shall _chain _you to me. Of course, in this scenario I would gladly attach you to my side, but that would be mildly troublesome for what I will have to do." He smirked. She gaped at him. He found the worst times to flirt with her... in the worst ways...

"Also, I would rather not risk you three to that woman's instabilities If Akaru and Akagi have to split their attentions between their given task and protecting you they may slip up and the infection Sevili has may spread." He explained, suddenly serious. "I do not believe I have to explain what will happen if the infection spreads..."

-x-

Youko was silent as they trudged for several minutes up the spiral staircase. Trisha busied herself by counting the sconces that lined the walls. Eleven... Twelve... Thirteen... Fourteen... Fifteen...

"_I was just remembering Sevili.._." Youko mentioned.

"_Who is she, Youko?" _His human half queried.

"_I cannot remember quite exactly... all I remember is being very young, possibly Akagi and Akaru's age- and fighting alongside of her. Whatever I was protecting or plotting to do that day, she had helped me." _

"_I see. Interesting. Is it possible that we cannot remember because those memories have been locked somehow by a third party?" _Shuichi queried.

"_I believe so, Shuichi. If that is the case, we owe our Angel quite a lot... Perhaps when Sevili is cured she can tell us more... perhaps she remembers..." _

Once they climbed out of an opening in the ground, Trisha squeezed her eyes shut.

"Now what?" She asked, curiously, as if ready to do anything asked of her. Youko smirked at her eagerness to help. It was endearing. Demons didn't care about anyone but themselves. It was refreshing to see someone show love and compassion that wasn't a part of his usual crew while he was within Shuichi.

"Now you wait in Akagi and Akaru's home for my return. I need to fetch a few ingredients to make what you humans would label an "antibiotic"." He explained. Trisha gave him a hard look, but he just raised an eyebrow in response. She was not going to disobey. It was clear in his posture and expression. She seemed broken about not being of much use.

"Fine. But be back soon. I'll go nuts by myself in a small hut..." She grumbled to herself. She needed to get stronger so she could at least not be a nuisance...

"Open your palm." He suddenly commanded. She quirked an eyebrow, but opened her palm regardless, happy to see that the mark was off of her right wrist, and her skin was no longer tattooed. Youko placed a tiny seed in her hand. Her blue eyes snapped up to meet his honey ones and she found that he was smirking.

"Try to pour your spirit energy into the seed. If you do not do it at a steady and calm pace, the seed will turn into something vicious and harm you. If you succeed in this test, the seed will turn into a flower. Understand?" He smiled mischievously.

She smiled brightly, despite the underlying danger and it slightly warmed him to know that she liked to accept difficult challenges.

"Got it!" She turned tail and ran, not even knowing that the seed was a Demon World equivalent to that of a Human World tiger lilly.

"_It was not nice to lie, Youko." _Shuichi chided like the mother Youko only experienced through Shiori.

"_And what do you care? I thought honesty didn't matter in relationships that were not romantic..." _The fox demon shot back in a childish manner. The human half was stunned into silence. _"Besides, it will teach her a thing or two about bravery. How can she dive into a battle if she is constantly afraid? She will need to learn to take risks and more of them at a given time." _The demon reasoned logically.

"_If that is what you believe is best, Youko..." _Shuichi sighed.

"_Oh, forgive me, Shuichi, is that a concerned tone I hear within your voice? I assumed our flower wasn't of _that _kind of importance to you?" _He teased again, hoping to rile the human half up.

"_Youko, enough." _The boy warned.

"_My, my... how testy you become when teased..." _Youko left it at that. Shuichi had a sharp response, but the demon half simply didn't want to hear it. He would let the redhead simmer in his words for a while, whilst creating a mental barrier between the two to make communication difficult.

-X-

She took a deep breath.

"Okay. Focus. Knowing Youko, he was either super serious, or this is just an elaborate joke to get me to try really hard..." She mumbled to herself in the hut. She huffed and glared at the seed in her palms. Unfortunately, she was no botanist and couldn't tell what the hell the seed would grow into. It could have been an avocado pit for all she knew.

Well no, that wasn't entirely true. She was over a thousand percent sure that it was not an avocado pit. Those were huge. This seed was small, oval and beige-blue in color. It was _definitely _some elaborate plant, the only thing that she couldn't figure out was exactly _how _elaborate it was going to grow to be.

"Ugh! I'm tired of this!" She pulled her hair and huffed again. "All right! Here goes. Relax, Trisha... Relax..." _Just bite the bullet and go for it! How bad can it really be? _

She inhaled, exhaled and tried to find her spirit energy. It was like a low hum of electricity traveling through her body. It felt beautiful and bright. She couldn't understand why, but it just did. She tried to focus it into her palms.

...

...

...

This took several hours. By the time she managed to hold the energy in her hands for thirty seconds, which was her record time, Youko showed up to break her concentration. He tsked at seeing the seed still in seed form.

"Would you like some advice?" He queried. The human girl sitting cross-legged on the dirt floor looked up at him, a slight underlying frustration visible through her relatively calm expression.

"I don't know if it's right. This is like asking a teacher for a hint during a test." She frowned. "And I'm kinda determined to do it on my own... Sorry... that's a little pigheaded but it's honest..." She explained unabashed. Youko gave her a soft smile and sat down next to her. She noticed him place a brown sack on the floor next to them. A few green leaves and roots stuck out and she assumed he went to gather herbs.

"You _deserve_ some assistance. Allow me..." He stressed, then sat cross-legged across from her as she nodded. He held out his hands, palms facing the leafy ceiling of the bamboo hut. "Place your hands atop mine in the same manner." He commanded, so she complied, shuddering at how warm and calloused his palms were. They were masculine and felt nice beneath her own hands. "Now relax. Calm every stressed nerve. In battle there is no time for panic." He explained.

She did not respond though Youko was absolutely sure she was not trying to be rude. He watched her close her eyes and inhale deeply. She concentrated, ignoring him quite expertly until she was relaxed enough to his liking. Youko smirked. She would not be able to ignore him any longer... He would relish disrupting her concentration. It was a childish thought, but he was a mischievous fox at heart, after all...

He decided to take a few moments to study her energy before he rattled her. It was pure and serene, like a babbling brook he could recall seeing in the human world on a nature walk through his human halve's eyes. It was also strong and sturdy. The energy as a whole reminded him of lightning that could not cause destructive harm if set loose. Her energy was precisely like caged electricity Its taste was breathtaking... He suddenly poured his energy into her body and silenced her as she made a small noise of discomfort. No matter who you were, having someone else's spirit energy flow through yours was uncomfortable; much like someone stepping into your personal space.

"Take my energy and _command_ your body to accept it." He spoke, knowing she would not understand until she tried. Surprisingly, she followed his instruction well and did as he commanded without so much as a small protest. Once the energy had fused enough with hers, he commanded it to flow through her body and into her palms. He held it there and watched the flower grow with his honey eyes. It turned into the largest purple-white Demon World Tiger Lilly he had ever seen. Once the process was complete, he removed his calloused palms, missing the warmth of her delicate hands in his almost instanteaneously. She opened her eyes and smiled brightly at him. She had learned something. He couldn't help but grin back. It was fascinating to watch her learn and pick things up from him.

"I think I understand now. I was trying too hard, in a way. You relax and let things just flow, like a current. " She tried to explain. "Thank you, Youko."

He nodded and wondered if it would be all right to ask her what had been on his curious mind since he had left her...

Youko seemed contemplative so she cocked an eyebrow. Was there more to his lesson? Was her analysis incorrect?

"May I ask you something?" He voiced abruptly. Her eyes widened as he had startled her, minutely.

"Hmm? What is it?" She asked innocently. He seemed to be genuinely curious. The feeling rubbed off on her. He was infinitely wise and intelligent... What could he possible need to know from her?

"Would you be able to treat me in a way you would treat your significant other? Just for a few minutes when we return to the human world?" He asked, no hint of a joke in his tone or expression.

"Wh-whaaaaat!?" That was completely uncalled for... What did he mean? Why? Where? When again? Huuuuh? She could feel her face changing colors. Great. She must have gone from red to purple to blue and back to pasty-pale again! Youko chuckled at her. Great. She was a source of entertainment now... wonderful...

"I apologize should I have been more clear?" He asked, cocking a silver brow. Oh... he was good... she had to give him that.

"N-n-n-no! No..." She took a deep breath. Of course he wouldn't know what a serious relationship was like... "That's not... that's not what... I mean... why do you want to do that?" She asked straightforwardly, shaking the surprise from her head.

Youko smiled. Uh oh...

"Because I happen to appreciate your presence, and I was curious as to what a monogamous relationship felt like." He almost shrugged... almost...

"O-Oh..." Well. He could have just explained from the get-go. Seriously, she would bet a million dollars he _enjoyed_ watching her squirm, though that was totally something he _would_ admit to...

"That's... not something you ask a friend to do... Youko. Even if you like hanging out with me..." She explained, the blush finally cooling on her face. Youko frowned.

"It is not something you test with a friend?" He queried.

"No... it could ruin the friendship." She explained. "...That's definitely something you don't ask of a friend. If you want to be in a monogamous relationship you should—

Her mouth sealed shut when she realized that once they hit the human world... Youko would be gone... for a _while_...

"On second thought... You don't have time or luxury to find someone to be in a relationship with, huh?" She asked, looking at his face with a sorrowful feeling in his chest. He shook his head "no" and laid on the puppy dog eyes really thick. The jerk...

"You know... you shouldn't give me that look. I won't be your pretend-play-experiment-thing. It would make things _really _awkward with Kurama. I know he can see what's going on." She reasoned.

"On the contrary, he has no idea what is going on currently. I shut him out. Do not ask for clarification, the process is difficult to explain." He mentioned. She gaped at him.

"Why do you want to know so badly?"

He frowned at her. Oh... She knew why...

"You can always just experience it with Botan... no?" She slyly dropped the name. _I swear Kurama's verbal tactics are rubbing off on me..._ She couldn't help it however... she wanted to know more about what their relationship was, even if she had just resigned herself to being "just friends" with the redhead. She tried to stop herself from vibrating with curiosity. This was it... this would kill her hopes so she could completely forget about dating Kurama... _forever. _She was sad, but excited to move on.

Youko frowned. Oh no... She could feel her own expression falling...

"I do not wish to experience such a thing with that woman..." Came the deep, rumbling voice.

-X-

DUN DUN DUN!

Oooooooooh maaaaaaaaaan!

I'm so so so so so so so so so so so SO glad you're all enjoying this! Hit me up with reviews! More to come in the next chapter!

ALSO:

Answers to the questions!

My favorite color: Purple!

My favorite scene in this story so far?

The one with Trisha in the factory. It made me excited writing it.

QUESTIONS FOR YOU GUYS FOR NEXT TIME:

Short hair on Kurama in this story?

Yes

No

What's your favorite _cultural _food? Ex: Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Portuguese, French, Polish etc.

I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho.

'Would be cool if I did, bro...

See ya later, Space Cowboy!


	18. Puzzle

WEEDS CAN TURN INTO FLOWERS

|18|

Oh man... chapter eighteen. The proud author-mommy inside of me is crying tears of joy. I thank all of you so warmly for making me ENJOY writing this again. Really. There was so much potential here. I'm so glad I was able to scrap the parts I didn't want and give it another shot. I am eternally, eternally ever so grateful! Thank you again!

ALSO!

**Congratulations to Chibisensei110787 for being my one hundreth reviewer! **Let's see if I can now get to two hundred reviews!

-X-

"What do you mean you '_would not wish_' to experience it with Botan?" She asked cautiously, though with a hint of disbelief in her tone. Kurama wasn't listening, right? _Right_?

"I am not attracted to her." Youko flatly stated as if it was written on a billboard on a busy highway and everyone had known about it but her. She was sure she looked like a fish. Youko reached over with his lean arm and used an index finger to lift her chin until her mouth was closed. Yep, her jaw definitely almost hit the floor with that one...

...3

...2

...1

Then it hit her... _DUH _Youko didn't like Botan! She was _so_ air-headed! He seemed to be the type of person to become frustrated with such an unreasonably upbeat personality... Of course, Botan seemed to be a lot smarter than she let on, but still... she didn't seem too keen on showing her intelligence. Did Youko _like _women who placed their minds on a pedestal before their looks? Or was it a technique of Botan's: 'Pretend to be stupid so they think they're safe then trick them into defeating themselves? Was she _cunning _like that, or was she just generally intelligent? Now Trisha was severely confused Thinking about Botan's level of intelligence was frustrating_ her_ and she only _just_ started thinking about it; she could only imagine how frustrated Youko must be... poor guy...

"How does that work?" She asked, as if speaking about a process or a machine; She might as well ask why he disliked the spirit-girl so much. Youko chuckled.

"You are very logical, Trisha. I appreciate your process of thought." He mentioned before explaining. "I am not attracted to Botan because I feel her personality would stunt Shuichi's survival." He explained, as if he were serious... Wait... he really _was_ serious, right? Trisha's head must have turned ninety degress to the side.

"Youko..." Oh man she was going to regret this... "In the human world... that kind of doesn't matter..." _Damn _her kind heart! But seriously! He was judging for all the wrong reasons...

"And in the event of an emergency? How can he rely on her? If their children were to catch danger?" The fox quirked a brow and looked displeased with her response. What did he want her to do? Jump on him and start kissing him? No way! She was honest. She was fair. She was a good person. She would talk this out, though she had to admit, every cell in her body wanted her to just grab Youko and tell him to take her as a girlfriend instead. Her hormones were telling her she didn't have much time to make children, though her brain thoroughly disagreed. What a sticky disagreement. She thought about Youko mentioning Kurama/Botan children... yuck... blue hair and green eyes? Or pink eyes and red hair? Gross. Green eyes and brown hair looked much nicer in her mind. Or blue eyes and silver hair... gorgeous. She blushed and shook her head free of thoughts like that. Youko made her think in a very primitive way, sometimes.

"Okay... I kind of get your point...But have you asked Ku— I mean Shuichi why he likes her? I think he always has a valid point when he makes a decision and sticks to it..." She argued.

"He believes he has feelings for her because her heart is kind and caring. She is a healer. He overlooks the fact that she is a spirit by technicality and could never legally marry him unless Koenma were to pull many, many strings... I also do not believe she has the skill to be a fitting wife or a mother... not by my standards, at least." He murmured towards the end. His eyes never left her. For some reason, she felt like he was implying something she did not even want to think about. She looked away, at the bamboo wall so her brain could work better.

Whoa. Wait a second...

Whoa-whoa-WHOA. "...not by my standards at least." Did Youko just call Botan... _substandard_?

Whoa.

"Well geez, Youko who do you expect him to saddle up with, Xena warrior princess?" She joked in a Yusuke-esque manner. Youko cocked a confused brow. She shook her head. Why would he know who Xena was anyway? She really shouldn't crack modern jokes in front of him.

"I meant to ask if you expected him to be with a rough woman stronger than himself..." She clarified. Youko chuckled. Trisha could tell he was imagining the scene in his head: Shuichi being beaten by a woman. Trisha almost snorted as the image in her head turned to Shucihi being beaten and abused by Xena. Preposterous.

"No of course not, no one to emasculate him of course. I figured he would find a woman who could defend herself and her young attractive." He explained. Trisha nodded; her inner "man" coming out. "I suppose I was wrong, however."

"I can see why you're upset. Definitely." She frowned at Youko. "You sure she's not useless? Kurama doesn't seem like the type to go for someone useless... you know? Maybe you're judging her falsely?" She frowned back at her and looked at her as if he wasn't sure if she was joking or not. Of course, why would Youko _ever_ be wrong? She almost rolled her eyes. Still... damn her own kind heart... what was she _thinking _supporting Botan? Any normal girl would be trashing her. But Trisha wasn't normal. She was, but she wasn't. She just couldn't bring herself to knock the blue-haired girl down a few pegs. Call it a weakness, but she was kind.

"He is the type of person to be attracted to someone kind, however." Youko reasoned. "I suppose it is not so far-fetched that he is in fact, attracted to that woman." Trisha sighed.

"Unfortunately... I don't know what to do for you. Kurama's my teacher. He's not my best friend. I can't give him life advice like that; not when he's so much wiser than I am." She shook her head and frowned.

"I wanted to know what was so appealing about a monogamous relationship with someone. I wanted to have more knowledge to defend my case..." He explained. What he really meant flew over her head. Either that or she completely missed it on purpose; Youko couldn't be sure. If he had solid proof to show Shuichi how wonderful another more suitable woman was, Shuichi would certainly change his mind. Why was she being so difficult and not seeing his point? Should he be more forward? Or was she just not attracted to Shuichi? Where they really just friends? Did he imagine the blush he saw on her cheeks through Shuichi's eyes those few times it appeared there?

"Okay... well... remember that time in the forest when you kissed me?" She asked, a bright red blush on her cheeks. No. He was not just "imagining" things. Was she just easily embarrassed then?

Youko decided to smirk at the memory she ignited in his mind. Oh how could he forget? He could still almost smell the sweet scent of her arousal... he often dreamed of it, if he were to be completely honest with himself.

"I remember quite well, angel..." He made certain he purred. He reveled in the slight shudder that rushed through her small body. Was she remembering how she felt too? He was almost certain she was...

"Right, well it's kind of like that, except the person you are kissing touching, feeling, _talking to _is the person you do all that with _every day_. Equally, you're _excited _to do those kinds of things with that person every day. You don't just have sex with them and move on to the next person with fond memories of the night before. You speak to this person daily. You laugh with them, you equally cry with them if the time calls for it. You try to make your relationship with them strong. You try to make it work. You know? You both endure together." She explained, remembering the kiss they shared. Youko's lips were so warm. They made her own lips tingle.

"I see..." She wasn't sure if Youko knew it was happening, but his face was slowly souring until finally it was contorted into a disgusted grimace. She winced at his realization. "Till death do us part" was quite permanent... He wasn't sure if he could handle Shuichi being with Botan like _that_ for _that _long. It was fine now, when they occasionally enjoyed being around each other... occasionally embraced in a dangerous or daunting moment... but he didn't think he could handle the rest... not for another hundred years or so, if both Shuichi and the ferry woman lived that long... if she were even granted a human life and a human body and freedom from her duties as the reaper.

"Are you... going to be okay?" Her gentle voice broke him free of his thoughts. He watched as she touched his bare, muscular shoulder as gently as possible. His skin tingled where it connected with hers. Would it feel like that if they touched each other more, on larger areas of their bodies? He sighed deeply and nodded in response to her, ignoring his needy thoughts. Wordlessly, he took his sac of herbs and stood from his place.

"When I return, Shuichi will be in my place. I trust that you can keep this conversation strictly between us?" He queried, positive she would not say anything about his opinions to Shuichi. It would not do for his human half to know that he had said something about his displeasure to the woman he loved but could not love.

She nodded affirmatively. She would take this to the grave.

"Be sure to take care of yourself, Trisha. I will see you the next time." Youko turned with his signature smirk. Though secretly he hoped she would get kidnapped so Shuichi would let him loose again, thus allowing him to spend more time with her.

"All right... you too, Youko... take care of yourself..." She called at his retreating back.

About ten minutes later, Akagi entered the hut and smiled at Trisha. Quite easily, Trisha smiled back, despite her worry over Youko and his feelings towards Kurama and Botan. Poor guy... Regardless it wasn't her problem... Akagi sat down next to her and picked up the flower she and Youko had grown.

"This has some of your energy and Youko-Kurama-sama's energy in it..." The girl commented as she sat with her legs tucked under her thighs.

"He showed me how to channel spirit energy." Trisha explained.

"Mmm... It's a beautiful flower." Akagi commented. "Can I play with your hair again?" The fox demoness grinned. Trisha nodded and turned so her back was facing Akagi. Again, the hair design began. Trisha hadn't even noticed that she had just rejected someone... technically.

-X-

"_Why do you refuse to answer me, Youko?" _ Kurama asked his demon half as he watched him administer the antibiotic to Sevili.

"_Shuichi, I am not in the mood to speak. Please allow me to work in peace." _Youko responded.

"_Do you think you can hide your distress? I am aware of the perpetual depression you are currently in." _Kurama almost snapped back. Did the demon think him incompetent?

"_Must I waste my thoughts repeating myself?" _Youko drawled, exasperated with the situation.

A tired sigh was all he received as a response. The two left it at that. Shuichi couldn't help but feel guilty.

-X-

Ten minutes post-antibiotic, Sevili had healed and begun to wake up. Slowly her eyes fluttered and fell to Youko. She smiled and began to cry tears of joy.

"I thank you, Youko. I was positive you would be able to find the answer." Sevili spoke, her voice still raspy. Youko nodded and gazed at the still-weakened fox demoness.

"How do you know me?" He decided to get right down to business. Sevili smiled, as if she expected him to not remember.

"Youko Kurama... surely you have not forgotten you own sister?" She joked. Youko's eyes widened marginally. They _did_ look similar and he could remember a sort of kinship with her, though he was not sure what kind of kinship it was. Her words were most likely true.

"Unfortunately no, it seems I cannot remember much about you, Sevili. Though your appearance is enough to convince me of our blood. You smell similar to myself as well." _Certainly not a fox demoness I would copulate with... That I am certain of... _

Sevili smiled again.

"We protected the possessor plants together, Youko. Our entire Northern clan did. Things changed when the maiden wanted you to destroy the flowers so her daughter would not have to waste her life on protecting them." Sevili explained, her tone trying to coax his memories forward as much as his brain was.

Flashes... images of events ran through his mind... he began to remember at a rapid pace.

"_Youko... this is painful..." _

"_Shuichi, please pull back... I need to see these images in full..." _

The human half obeyed and Youko closed his eyes.

His clan... the Northern clan. They all wore white. That is why Sevili was still dressed in white. That is why white was his chosen, signature color. They guarded the mostly human line of flower maidens... the ones who could use and manipulate the possessor plants. Someone powerful was after the plants... The flower maiden... Cerr— Cerr— he couldn't remember her name. It was not relevant— she asked him to burn them... to set the entire field on fire and cast every plant and its seed to hell "from whence they came". He agreed. His sister... Sevili... she was to help him. The rest of the clan disagreed. If they didn't work in harmony with the flower maidens what would their lives turn into? Fighting broke out... he had slain so many... So many of his own kin... It was gruesome to say the least. His heart pounded with adrenaline at the images in his mind... how could he? They were his _family... _

Sevili was tasked with assuring that the line of maidens continued in secrecy... he had begged to be relinquished of his memories like the weak, young fool he was at the time. Thus his life as a thief began... Trisha... she is of the lineage of maidens... She had the blood required to control the plants, whereas the ones before her were merely human priestesses who protected them in case of an emergency. Ren was not a liar... he was well informed. _Too _well informed. Obviously, he was working together with the one who tried to take the plants the first time. But who was the powerful... no _almighty _one who wanted the plants? His eyes snapped open.

"Who is trying to acquire the possessor plant? Rather, who wanted it at that time?" He asked, rather insensitively in his haste to right the things that have been wronged. Sevlili shook her head.

"Brother, I am sorry. No one knew his name. We only knew of his enormous power."

He growled.

"What happened to the maiden who gave birth to the one I arrived with?" He asked. His next line of action could be to burn the remainder of the plants... if only he could find where the maidens hid them... Sevili frowned. It was not a good sign. Memories of his sister were returning to him now as well. Sevili was younger than he, but infinitely more mature. She may as well have been his older sister. It would have suited her better. Sevili's frown was never a good thing, as she always smiled. He was disgusted with himself for asking to be wiped clean of the memories of his sister... it was no wonder he was so lost when he became a thief. He had no memory of the family he had once had.

"That maiden has died at the hands of the powerful one; the one with no face. He and his men did not know the little one survived. I delivered her to an orphanage within the human realm myself while the priestess distracted them. I could not find you to reinstate your memories and ask for your assistance. You were thought to be deceased." She explained briefly. Youko's head was spinning with his newly acquired knowledge.

"I apologize Sevili... had I known how difficult it had been for you..." He left his statement open-ended. Youko did not apologize often if ever. His sister deserved it from him and so much more. How awful he must have been to leave his younger sister with so much responsibility... with so many memories of death. He remembered the night he begged the flower maiden—Trisha's great grandmother or something or the other— to "erase the hell" from him memory. He was not mentally strong enough to handle such atrocities then. How embarrassing .. truly. He looked at his sister's forgiving face with a sorrowful expression. She was smiling as he remembered she always did. Her soul was a kind one compared to his own.

"It is fine, Kurama-nii-sama. All is forgiven." She spoke calmly in her rasped voice. How she deserved better than this... "I am glad the child has fallen into your care."

How convenient for the fates to have bestowed Trisha upon him. How conveniently she had fallen into trouble and indirectly led him to his long-forgotten sister... Something large was to come of this in the near future. He was certain of that. The cards were just falling into his hands too perfectly. He would have to be resilient in the future.

"I will end this chapter of our lives, Sevili. Do relax and leave the rest to me. My human half can take care of this issue." He placed a gentle hand on hers. The black vein-marks had completely disappeared from her skin at this time and he did not even realize when he removed her straight jacket. He owed his sister a proper apology once this was all over. She did not deserve to be so strictly fastened to so much responsibility for so long while he frolicked and thieved and plundered and copulated and drank as he pleased. It was not right or just.

Unfortunate Sevili... what a terrible brother he had been to her indeed.

Sevili smiled. "I appreciate it, nii-sama. I have grown quite comfortable with this Southern clan. Akaru and Akagi are like my own young. I have taught them much of what I know." She mad light of the situation, as always.

"Sevili, I am ashamed of myself but so proud of you. Again, please enjoy your life to its fullest." Youko dropped to his knees and bowed low in respect and apology. Sevili shakily stood from her place on the bed and dropped in front of her brother. She hugged him tightly. He hesitantly hugged her back, undeserving of her love.

"Now, I have yet to hear of your gallant tales from you yourself. Do tell me what you have been up to, brother, and please introduce me to your human half. Demon World has been in a stir since the last great tournament and many tales have been spread..." She noted playfully. His sister was always the cheerful one... It was refreshing to know she was infallible in her own way. She had done well in surviving her life for this long.

-X-

Hours later, Akaru, Akagi and Trisha were bored of playing charades.

"Show us another human game, Trisha!" Akagi eagerly queried and brought her hands together excitedly. She was quite enjoying these interesting games. They were not violent, like the games demon children played.

"Um... well... uhm... have you every played duck-duck-goose?" She asked.

"Duck?" Akagi asked.

"Goose?" Akaru queried. "Like those things that we have pictures of from before the worlds were separated?" He asked again with a cocked, red brow.

"Yes... ducks are the things you might've seen that have bills and webbed feet." Trisha explained awkwardly. How did they not know what ducks were?

"Geese are very similar to ducks, no? In the pictures they look alike. They both have webbed feet." Akagi mentioned as she looked upwards into what Trisha assumed was her memory for an image of the things she was explaining.

Duh. When you really thought about it, ducks and geese were pretty similar... kind of... sort of... ...

Not really. Totally not. They were winged, but they were different.

"Um yes. Geese honk though, but ducks quack too... you're right... they _are _eerily similar... but still they're different." She shook her head. Enough of the confusing topic! "But anyway, the game is 'duck duck goose'. To be simple, we can play the same game but call it human, human, demon. Sound good?"

Akaru smirked.

"Sounds more dangerous. Explain the rules." He rose to the challenge... even though the game wasn't really challenging at all.

"Well it's more fun with a large group, but for boredom's sake we can just use the three of us. We sit in a circle and one of us is the "chooser" or something like that. The chooser walks around and taps people's heads and labels them as "human" until he or she picks one person. That person is labeled as the "demon". When that person is labeled, they shoot up and start chasing the "chooser" around the circle until they catch them. When that happens—

Kurama entered through the door, interrupting them. Two heads of red hair and one head of orientally-designed brown hair turned to face him.

"Yo! Kurama!" Trisha greeted with a smile. Kurama beamed back. Apparently he was in a good mood.

"It is time to return. Sevili is well and she is resting. Please take care to tell me everything I need to know when I first arrive, Akaru, Akagi..." Kurama spoke. Akaru smirked and Akagi smiled. They didn't want to tell him that Sevili was his sister. They wanted him to find out on his own.

"Did you enjoy the reunion?" Akaru asked mischievously The human must have, since he seemed to radiate a calm aura. Kurama nodded in response.

"Yes I did. It was nice to see happiness from Youko for a change." He explained, then looked at Trisha.

"You must meet with my employer, Trisha. I'm afraid we have caused a bit of a stir..." Kurama gave her an apologetic look as her eyes widened.

"Am I in big, _big_ trouble?" She asked, like a small child anticipating a spanking. Kurama laughed at her doe-eyed expression and shook his head.

"Nothing huge. I believe Koenma has something to offer you... though I am not sure if you should accept... In any case we should not keep him waiting." He bowed to Akaru and Akagi. "Thank you both."

Trisha suddenly lunged at the silent twins and squeezed them as tightly as she could.

"Tch. Not even an ounce of pain, human, you'll have to try harder than that." Akaru insulted in a friendly manner.

"Shut _up_. It was fun and you'll miss me, you jerk!" She snapped back, playfully sticking her tongue out at him.

"Please come back and visit, Trisha. I will miss you. You have become a sister to me..." Akagi explained softly with a sad smile .

"I'll try my best to drop in. I have to visit Yusuke too so I'll make sure to stop by when I go to see him! I'll see you guys next time!" Trisha assured with a wide grin.

She went to leave with Kurama, but Akagi asked her to wait. When she turned around to face her, the young demoness handed her a clean set of her own clothes.

"The southern clan always wears red. You and Youko-Kurama-sama are officially a part of us." Akagi smiled as Trisha took the clothes from her, honored. She stuck her tongue out at Kurama. He didn't get an honorable set of clothes. Not that Youko would ever wear red anyway. White seemed to be his thing.

"Thank you Akagi. Thank you both for saving me!" Trisha smiled and thanked once again.

"Yeah, yeah, just don't get yourself killed in the safety zone,_ humangirl_." Akaru jeered. Kuram cocked an eyebrow at the almost-insulting nickname that Trisha stuck her tongue out at.

"Stay safe, Trish. I look forward to seeing you soon!" Akagi smiled, using her own nickname for Trisha.

"See ya Aka-chan!" With that Kurama scooped the girl up and ran towards a portal Koenma opened for him not long ago. Several moments after passing through the portal, Trisha became nervous. She took a deep breath and sighed as Kurama released her from his grip. She floated around next to him and cracked her knuckles nervously.

"Quite an intricate hairstyle you have." Kurama made small talk. Trisha smirked.

"I have an awesome hair stylist. You should try her out. I can only imagine how much fun she'd have with your hair; it being so red and all..." She sighed again. "But seriously, I'm really sorry for getting you into trouble. And thanks again for coming to my rescue." Kurama responded with a quiet 'your welcome'. The girl had no idea how helpful she had been in actuality. A few moments later, Trisha nearly sobbed.

"They're going to erase my memories... all my progress... I'll be at square one again!" She looked up at the redhead with big, watery blue eyes and a distraught expression. For whatever reason, the girl's tears made him grimace. Kurama was understanding, but like most men, he detested tears. Something about the emotional waterworks just did not sit well with him.

"I highly doubt that; There is no reason to lament." He reassured with confidence. The words seemed to lift her spirits because she squared her shoulders and donned a determined expression.

"Whatever it is, let it come." She decided in a tone laced with set finality. Just as she finished speaking, they found themselves in a light-colored office... with a teenager with a pacifier in his mouth sitting at a large, oak desk. A blue ogre in a cheetah print loincloth stood next to him with a dangerous expression on his face that Trisha was certain was fake.

She tried to contain her laughter upon the sight, she legitimately tried. But when she failed and snorted without grace, Kurama gave her a distraught look and the teenager looked aggravated. Their reactions made her burst with laughter. The room was quiet, filled with only her laughter for a minute or so.

"Oh...man..." She spoke in between laughs. "_This _ was the... ... the..." She couldn't contain herself and laughed again. "... _pansy _I was afraid of!" BAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA more laughter. "And that expression... it's so fake!" She cracked up as she pointed at the ogre that began to laugh with her.

"You're right it really is!" The ogre clutched his stomach and continued his laughter.

"E-NOUGH!" Finally the teenager snapped. Trisha laughed harder, though the orge shuddered and stopped his laughter.

"L-look Kurama!" She laughed again. "He still has tantrums...!" She was holding her stomach now. "I can't take it anymore... kill me please... before I die laughing!"

The teenager gave a spoiled growl.

"Why do they always laugh?" He groaned to himself and slid his hands down his face in an exasperated manner. Kurama chuckled quietly at the prince's reaction. "You sure can pick 'em fox boy..." Koenma grumbled.

Finally, Trisha took a few breaths and composed herself. She donned a serious expression and crossed her arms.

"Okay. Seriously now. I'm listening." She acquiesced. "Hi."

Koenma cleared his throat.

"Hello. I am prince Koenma." Trisha's lips qirked upwards and the prince almost thought she was going to laugh at him again.

Poof! Botan suddenly appeared next to Koenma. She seemed to be rushed, judging by the messiness of her hair and the distraught expression on her face.

"Sorry I'm late sir! I needed to ferry a few souls and— Oh! Goodness! H-Hello there..." She greeted Trisha with an awkward smile that she hid behind her pink Kimono sleeve. Trisha smiled back at her awkwardly. _This is going to be just fantastic... _The girl thought sarcastically. She nearly rolled her eyes.

"_Any_way!" The teen groaned, ignoring Botan, clearly tired of being interrupted. "Now that we're all _here_ and that I've been unsuccessfully _lied to_ I have a proposition for you, Trisha." He sounded professional once again.

Trisha's eyebrow shot up. Right to business; she liked that.

"I need a new spirit detective, one that can work with Kurama and Botan as part of a team, possibly even with Hiei sometimes. From how I've seen you handle that Akaru guy I think you're just the person for that. I think it's good that you're partly a demon too. It will help you on the tougher cases. Naturally, I will assign you to train with Genkai over the summer and start sending you on cases once Genkai's sure you are proficient enough. What do you say?" His eyebrow rose and Trisha could tell it just wasn't wise to refuse his offer.

"Um... what... does a spirit detective do, exactly?" She turned her head towards Kurama, since he mentioned being a spirit detective before, but didn't really clarify what that entailed. Kurama gave her a rewarding smile; one that told her she had asked just the right question for the occasion.

"We track down and arrest demons that cause trouble in the human world. Sometimes we retrieve items that are in danger of being used against the human world." He explained in a nutshell.

_Like the possessor plant Ren is after... 'Doesn't sound so bad though... But working with Kurama and Botan? Meh... I'll pass on that one. I'd rather not witness their gooey lovey-lovey-ness. _

"Oh. So like a police officer with super powers..." She joked, sticking her tongue out. Kurama chuckled.

"Something of the sort, yes." He agreed.

"Um... well I'll do it then, but I want to work alone; if possible." She boldly suggested, turning her head to the teenager who held her fate in his hands. Koenma crossed his arms and she could _feel_ Kurama give her a bewildered look.

"Why would you want to work alone? Even Yusuke had Botan those first couple of cases..." Koenma explained, a confused frown upon his face.

"What! _Yusuke... THE YUSUKE URAMESHI _was a spirit detective?" She nearly shouted. She didn't wait for Koenma to use the breath he gathered to speak. "I'm in. If I can get _that_ beefed up doing detective work I'll take it. But yeah, this Hiei character or whoever, why can't we just pull an Akatsuki from Naruto and work as partners; two-by-two?" She asked. Koenma gave her an odd look in regards to her reference but he seemed to think about sending out teams of two. Should she sweeten the deal by explaining the benefits of having _two _teams of two out there hustling or should she just let him come to the conclusion himself?

_Anything but being a third wheel to Botan and Kurama... Anything... _

She wasn't keen on feeling like crap next to a blue-haired spirit-girl flirting with the guy she liked, even if both Botan and Kurama seemed too polite to do something like that in front of her. Who wanted to be reminded that they just couldn't have what they wanted anyway?

"You know what... I kind of _like _the idea of having Hiei back here... is his agreement up with Mukuro yet?"

"No, sir it's still in effect." The blue ogre responded officially.

"_Shut up_ George; I'm thinking." The prince whined, quite rudely.

_What a brat... that poor ogre... look how sad he is now! _

Her heart reached out to George. She smiled at him and he seemed to cheer up upon seeing it and smiled back at her.

"Hm well what the heck! Hiei can be your unofficial partner! 'Till he's technically free you can work by yourself! Court-adjourned!" He took a small hammer seemingly out of thin air and slammed it against the desk before Kurama could even open his mouth to protest. Trisha couldn't help but keep the triumphant grin on her face. If she could have flashed an imaginary camera a peace-sign she would have as well...

Kurama and Botan locked worried gazes and suddenly, Trisha and Kurama were in her room. Apparently, Koenma zipped them through a portal without them even noticing.

"That wasn't a wise decision." Kurama spoke with a warning in his tone. Trisha shrugged in response and began to pull clothes out of her drawers. It was about one or two in the morning in the human world. She'd be tired at school tomorrow if she didn't get to sleep, _ASAP. _

"May I ask why you so _foolishly _chose to work alone?" He asked, a hint of annoyance in his tone. She stopped on her way to the bathroom and turned around in a manner that he could _feel _aroused Youko as she locked gazes with the green-eyed man.

"Because I wanted to." And with that she ducked into her bathroom and shut the door as fast as possible. Kurama glared at the infuriating sheet of wood between them as he heard her drop the bundle of clothes she was holding, and strip off the clothes she was wearing.

"_We can always sneak in an watch, if you're so curious, Shuichi." _Youko taunted at _just _the most inconvenient time.

"_I don't understand why she suddenly became so brazen. Have you anything to do with it, Youko?" _Kurama interrogated.

The shower turned on and the glass shower door opened, then closed. He could hear the very slight sound of an exhale of relaxation. Trisha had no idea he was still there; practically _waiting _for a straight answer. Should he wait? Should he stubbornly take a seat on her bed and absolutely _saute_ her for information as soon as she exited her bathroom?

"_I have no qualms against that decision, Shuichi... I can even do the 'sauteing' in your place... you can just close your eyes and sleep for _that_ event..." _The fox demon lecherously suggested.

"_I've had enough of your perverse insinuations." _Kurama voiced within his mind. No, staying and waiting for an answer would be too forward. She would only be angered and refuse to respond honestly. Perhaps during a sparring session of some sort... maybe then he could _fight _the answer out of her.

Her cat, Luna jumped on her bed and gazed up at him with round, green eyes that seemed to have the answers he longed for.

"Too bad you can't speak for her..." He whispered quietly and petted the feline. A wave of exhaustion washed over him. It had been a long day; He found a piece of paper on her desk and pulled a pen out of a cylindrical, metal container. He scribbled a short note on it in his neat penmanship.

_18:00. My house. _

"_How forward of you Shuichi..." _

"_Silence, Youko." _

He felt a pang on mischief from the ancient fox demon, but ignored it as he made his way towards her window to exit. Unfortunately, he never made it out of the window before Youko completely shut his mind down, forcing him into the deepest parts of his own subconscious...

-X-

Hmmmm... what is that demon planning _now? _You guys can always tell me what you want to see and I might just write it!

Anyway, YAAAAAY! I love Akaru and Akagi, personally. I think they're awesome even if they're OC's. I like Akagi especially. Anyway the next chapter is going to be all about goodbyes and such. It won't be happy, at least right now as I'm writing this blurb, I don't think it will be. Youko really confused Trisha. She thought that Kurama was wholeheartedly on the KXB train. Well, he is, BUT! Not technically. Youko is an essential, constant and _nagging_ part of him so yea, not a hundred percent; not entirely at least.

The real fun will start when Trisha will meet Genkai, Yukina and Keiko, as well as Jin, Touya and *ahem* _the beautiful _Suzuka as well as Shishiwakamaru and Rinku and Chu too! We will see more of Hiei as well. Definitely more of Hiei. He's a good character to write. Anyway, please leave reviews! =] I'm always dying to hear your opinions of this story! Remember, I need details to feed off of! Sometimes you guys mention things that make me all like "OOOOOOH YEAAAAAAAH That's right!" And it really helps, so yeah!

Kurama with short hair? I think yes. It's going to happen EVENTUALLY. I mean he's so guyish and SEXY with short hair! Look him up on google images! Really hot stuff ;)

My favorite cultural food? Hmmm it's a tie between Japanese, Spanish and Greek! Tadziki is great and who can hate on all-natural chicken from portugeuse and peruvian places!? They're amazing!

That being said, I REALLY want sushi from Jiro's sushi restaurant in Japan... even though it's like three hundred dollars per reservation MINIMUM there. T_T Oh well maybe one day when I'm an awesome money-making Seiyu... maybe T_T

QUESTIONS FOR NEXT TIME?

Sexual/heated scene in the next chapter?

A) Yes, please!

B) NO, ew! Not yet!

C) I don't think we can help it, with the way Youko is...

D) Whatever else you want to respond to me with?

What are your top three favorite anime(s?)/manga(s?)

Feeling curious =]

See ya later space cowboy!


	19. Realization

WEEDS CAN TURN INTO FLOWERS

|19|

Somehow I feel like I'm losing my touch. I actually wrote about seventeen pages of this chapter and scrapped them, so I rewrote it! Youko's going to be mischievous in this one as a result!

Oh and by the way... Mott's makes the best fruit snacks! They're soooooo delectable!

-X-

Youko smirked as he gracefully set himself down on the deep purple sheets of Trisha's bed. They smelled freshly laundered and the fox demon took in their scent as it mingled with the rest of the Trisha-esque scents in the room. He studied his silver hair spilling over the purple and lavender pillows. It was as smooth as it usually was and glistened like jewelry in the dim, golden light of the table lamp on her nightstand.

His question still stood and he had yet the answer to it: Should he sleep with her? Would she become his mate if he 'asked nicely'? It was a last, albeit drastic effort to make Shuichi see reason. Yes his human counterpart had full control of his body and emotions; but he, like many normal human males his age, was absolutely and in-arguably _human. _That meant that he had his urges as well. It was the very demonic advice that his little sister gave him. If the girl agreed, they would mate, for life of course, and Shuichi would eventually come to the realization that he wanted her as much as Youko did. The "convincing Shuichi" part would come later, of course and would be quite a pain in his tail, but everything theoretically would turn out for the better. He wouldn't have to watch Shuichi suffer for a woman who was much beneath their collective standards.

"_Youko-nii-sama... have you ever considered asking for her consent in an amiable manner?" _Cevili, his imouto was a genius!

He heard the girl trip over something that sounded light in her bathroom. His ears twitched as he very clearly heard her whispering under her breath in an annoyed, though curious manner.

"What the..." She trailed off, clearly confused. Youko smirked to himself. She was innocent and believed she was alone. She would be surprised once she saw him lounging about in her bedroom. He wondered if she would be aroused...

He listened to her rustle around and realized she was rummaging through a box of some sort. He believed the material was "cardboard" as Shuichi had put it. She found a paper that she unfolded. Youko closed his eyes, watching her drop the bundle of clothes Akagi had given her in his mind. He could hear her calm breaths through the door and the sounds soothed him.

"Blah blah blah... dear Trisha, I went to a Victoria's Secret shoot today and they gave me some extra things to take home when they found out I had an older sister. Take this as a 'cease-fire'... Alyssa... ... ... Pfft! Cease-fire? Yeah right. Whatever, what's in here anyway? Probably all the crap she did—

She pulled something out of the box. Youko felt his curiosity spark. What was Victoria's "secret"? Was the Secret inside the box? Did Trisha uncover it!? He forced his mind to relax. He would just have to ask her about it later.

-Oh! That's actually really nice! Hm... I'll have to talk to her soon... when I get the chance..." He heard her mumble in a pleasurable tone.

His thoughts suddenly took a dirtier route when he heard her removing her clothes, commenting on their absolute filth and throwing them into what he assumed was a hamper— a human thing that Shuichi usually threw his dirty clothes into when he was done wearing them as well. Youko would still never understand. Bathing in a river or a hot spring was the best way to get clean, and keep your natural scent! He heard the skirt and underthings drop and imagined her long, long legs— pale and exposed. He couldn't help but feel aroused.

"_Youk— Whe— Get— Hands— o— you, I'm—"_ His human half tried to pound through Youko's mental barriers. He was surprised Shuichi had grown strong enough to even squawk about it. But he supposed a little bit of himself stayed with Shuichi every time the human transformed into him, and he had been out a lot more often in recent times.

"_Shhh... sleep a little while longer, Shuichi..." _He knew the human would hear him and could feel a building feeling inside his mind, like a sort of pressure about to burst. He squashed the feeling promptly with a stubbornness he only unleashed in the direst of circumstances. He listened with closed eyes and tried to imagine what he heard. He heard the girl scrubbing her scalp with a scentless, mostly natural shampoo and then apply some sort of cream to her hair. She avoided rinsing it immediately and began to delicately scrub herself down with a mild, also scentless soap. He bit the inside of his bottom lip as he smelled the distinct makai stink wash off of her body, leaving behind her natural scent, which he found strikingly pleasant to his keen nose. She rinsed whatever was in her hair thoroughly and shut off the water. The pipes squeaked off and she opened a glass-sounding door and stepped out, the water dripping on the floor. Judging by the sound, he assumed her bathroom floor was tiled, much like Shuichi's.

He listened as she dried herself, then her hair and put on whatever was in the box. She fiddled around, as she brushed her hair for a few minutes longer, set down her brush and walked towards the door.

The entire time she was in the bathroom her cat sat by the door, as if guarding it, keeping a watchful eye on him. He disregarded the feline entirely. It had no testicles. It could not harm him if it wanted to, though the scent of Ren's blood was still on its claws from a long, long time ago. He smirked at that fact. Foolish Ren was ripped open by a mere human-world feline. Pathetic.

The door opened and out came the woman he fantasized so often about, dressed in a tight, quite revealing nightgown. It was made of cerulean-blue silk and accentuated with black lace around her bust and her hips. She was shocked to see him lounging casually on _her_ bed, her usually medium-brown-colored hair still damp and as a result, a darker shade. The feline skittered out of her way and found refuge at the top of her black desk that Shuichi had recently raided for a pen and paper to scrawl a note on before Youko forcefully took over.

"Y-Youko?" She nearly squeaked, surprised to see him as he thought she'd be. His roaming eyes hungrily took in her hardened nipples, clearly visible beneath the thin silk of the rather suggestive garment she was wearing. He smirked at her as he watched her eyes widen in horror, her face pale, then redden, then pale again. She was about to turn around and run back into the bathroom, her arms across her chest, but he beat her to it, blocking the doorway with his massive body. He casually leaned against it, smirking down at her silently. She glared up at him, her arms doing nothing to cover the cleavage his stature allowed him to freely gaze down at.

"And where do you believe you're going?" He queried, his voice silky. She took a step back, realizing she was only a hair away from his body. He tried not to frown at their distance... this was their _last _night together!

"Apparently nowhere now that you're in my way." She replied sharply, eyeing the safety of her washroom behind him with calculating eyes.

"Hmmm perhaps you've been spending too much time with Shucihi. His nasty habit of finding escape routes in certain situations seems to have rubbed off on you." He commented, then smirked at her as her eyes widened to register his half-complement. "Speaking of which... there are other, more useful things _I_ can rub off on you... if you'd like to know what they are..." He smirked in his usual, flirtatious way.

Her face reddened again and she wrapped her arms around her breasts tighter, though that only pushed them up even higher than they naturally sat, and likewise, gave him a better view of the treasures.

"You know... I'm starting to see why Kurama is such a gentleman..." She sniped, still blushing. He chuckled at her poor attempt at an insult.

"Please, do not place Shuichi upon such a pedestal. He is as human as you are and like you and I he has his own needs as well." He bluntly stated. Her mouth dropped open again, and he smirked, thinking it was just wide enough to... well... take his entire length and width, of course! He thought about telling her what she could put in her open mouth, but she punched him in the chest, albeit lightly.

"You jerk!" She growled, still in shock.

_How dare you shatter Kurama's image in my mind! Jeez! _

Youko chuckled at her, and suddenly his hands were resting firmly on her shoulders. They sent shivers up her spine. His spirit energy was large and astounding. She couldn't help but look at his waist...

_His spirit energy is sooooo huge! ... ... ... Like other things, I'm sure... but now's not the time to think about that! Jeez Trisha! If anything of Youko's is rubbing off on me, it's his perverseness! _

"I have a proposition for you... I suggest you consider it." He guided her to her bed and sat her down on it.

"God if I had a dollar for every time I heard that phrase..." She mumbled as her backside hit her bed. Suddenly, he had eased her back until she was laying down, her head on her pillows, her face bright red.

"H-Hey!" She weakly argued as he took a position above her, his hands on either side of her body. His silky, silver hair spilled over his right shoulder and mingled with hers, creating a sort of privacy from the rest of her room. It was like they were in their own zone... again. She blushed heatedly as she followed his hair from his roots to the tips that gently kissed her own that were splayed out on the pillow beneath her head. She looked at his face— bravely at that— and locked eyes with his. He seemed to be having fun. She wanted to be mad at him, but found him too charming in his own way to really scold him. After all, she enjoyed the attention she got from him anyway. Yes, it was mostly sexual, but beneath the hunger in his eyes lay a certain warmth she could not exactly describe or explain. His eyes zeroed in on her lips and suddenly, she found his warm mouth pressed against hers in a kiss that conveyed urgency and need. It literally took her breath away. She didn't have enough time to kiss him back. His lips were gone and her head was spinning before she had time to really react.

"I enjoy the sound of your heart when it races. Were you aware that it beats slightly slower than most human hearts?" He asked, his voice husky. She blushed in response as her voice died in her throat. Why couldn't she talk? He listened to her that closely? God what else could he hear? Hopefully not the food digesting in her stomach! Or at least at this time, the lack thereof!

She watched in shocked fascination as his dexterous fingers glided through her hair from root to tip.

"Your hair is very well kept. You're determined. You're intelligent; eager to learn." At that comment, his eyes swept over her body and in the silk nigthgown that she was absolutely _cursing _herself for putting on she felt naked but _wanted_ beneath his intense gaze. "You, Trisha—" He said her name with a gentleness to his deep voice she did not know he could bring forth. "— are the ideal mate. Would you be mine?" He asked. There was an almost bashful uncertainty in his voice; as if he were on one knee asking her to marry him. Was that what mating was to demons? Her brain stuttered.

_Huuuh? _

God she felt stupid.

"I promise you; despite being mostly human you would be the only one..." He almost whispered.

"_The only one"? What on earth does that mean? _

"What... are you talking about?" She queried and he chuckled to himself.

"I am asking you to be my mate." He clarified and she was certain she unconsciously glared at him before her eyes caught sight of his biceps and pectoral muscles. God... they looked deliciously hard. She bit the inside of her lip but she found that her attraction to him did not lessen at all. Was... was Kurama that toned too? She blushed at the direction her mind brought her in.

_He's a friend! Oh my God! What am I thinking! Stop! _

She mentally bashed herself on the head over and over and over again.

"In the human culture it is similar to marriage." He clarified.

"Oh. I'm sorry, but I can't marry you or have your kids or be your mate! I'm way too young for that!" She blushed and watched him frown almost instantaneously. She could see his swishing tail halt and droop as a result. Was he not expecting rejection?

"Too young? Your body wants this... clearly." He argued as he took in her scent and pressed his hips closer to hers. As a result she felt his hardened length against her private areas through his pants. She felt he blood rush to her face then back down to her feet and up to her face again. God she was wet! She felt it when he applied pressure there!

_Noooooo! Stoooooooop paaaaniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiccccckkkiiiiiiiinnnnnnng! _

Her wail was unheeded by her brain. Her "too close" alarms were blaring in her mind, unmerciful to her need to relax and control the situation. But how would she be able to take control anyway? If Youko really wanted her he would just tease her mercilessly until she gave in! She'd be crazy with lust in just a few short minutes with him hovering over her and touching her and arousing her! Was there even a point in fighting back?

"Mm, well yeah what girl _wouldn't_ want you? Do you realize how insanely attractive you are!?" She blurted, sure she couldn't turn any redder. But really, did he really expect her not to be attracted to him? That was impossible! His sister was probably the only female alive that was definitely _not_ attracted to him!

_Stupid! Why did I say that!? Now he's probably even _more_ riled up! I'm such an idiot! _

The fox thief above her smirked and placed his lips upon her neck. The breath she was holding escaped and she found herself mewing in response to the way he nipped and sucked on her neck. Dear lord... she would have a hickey there the next morning!

_There's going to be so much explaining to do now..._She internally groaned. He kissed his way up her neck and gently nibbled on the lobe of her ear. She moaned, not realizing that he made even the act of sucking on an ear lobe extremely arousing and sexy when she previously found it to be disgusting when her ex did it to her once upon a time. Before she knew it, his lips were on hers again, and her hands had somehow found their way into his hair. She could feel tiny seeds caught in it that she flung out with her fingers as she combed them through his hair. He didn't seem to mind so whenever she came across a seed she brushed it out. Before she knew it, their tongues were clashing and she found her hands exploring the toned, muscular arms her eyes were shamelessly perusing earlier. Her heart felt like it was going to thud out of her chest and she was sure the new slip her sister had left for her, among other even more scandalous things, was now ruined and needed to be washed.

Youko broke away from her mouth, trailing kisses down her neck and at the tops of her breasts. She gasped half in shock and half in pleasure at his boldness. She felt his hands travel up her leg and onto her thigh and she silently thanked God that she had thought to shave. His hand slid up the garment and rested at her hip where her pantyline was. He stopped momentarily and she felt him smirk where he was kissing her collarbone.

"No undergarments tonight? Very wise..." He purred in his deep tone.

She gasped like a fish out of water, unable to respond to his teasing.

"Y-Youko!" All she could do was say his name.

_Dear lord he is soooo sexy... _

Oh how he loved the way she said his name. She was always so stunned by one thing or another. He raked his nails across her heated skin at her hip and kissed away all of the shivers that jolted through her very needy body. He wanted to see more of her... he wanted to taste more of her he wanted to—

"_Dear HEAVENS, Youko! What on EARTH are you doing!?" _Shuichi screamed in his mind, voice laced with a small hint of passion. Clearly, the human half was feeling the things he was feeling, albeit minutely, through their shared link.

Oops.

"_I told you to sleep longer, Shuichi... You chose to openly disregard my advice and now you see why I advised you to do so in the first place."_Youko chastised as he hungrily slid his palm up the side of Trisha's hourglass shape and brushed the side of her round breast with his fingers. This elicited a pleasurable gasp from the girl and Shuichi shuddered inside, feeling the need and desire that Youko felt. Unconciously, the redhead also felt the attraction the fox had to his student and could see clearly why. Her scent was _intoxicating_ and her blue eyes sparkled like saphires even though they were lidded with passion. Her aroused tone reached their shared ears and Kurama couldn't help but listen to her voice.

"Y-Youko... this is insensitive... please... stop..." She begged him. Kurama knew she was so heated she wouldn't be able to stop if the fox thief continued. They would have sex! Insensitive? Yes, what they were doing was absolutely _stupid_, but she chose the word "insensitive" instead... he couldn't help but wonder why.

"Mm? Insensitive? Why do you say that, angel?" Youko's silky voice spoke Shuichi's thoughts.

Kurama felt betrayed. How could he just outright ask!?

"Because Kurama wouldn't like it..." Suddenly, her eyes widened and she sat up so abruptly, Youko sat back to avoid colliding heads with her. "Kurama is in love with Botan, Youko, and no matter how... like _this_ I am because of you and him I— I can't do this, okay! I can't just watch you abuse his body. Please, Youko... please don't do this. I can't and won't mate with you and you know what, tomorrow I'll just disappear okay? I don't know why on earth you would want me as a mate but if it complicates things for Kurama I'll make it easy and just walk away." She tucked her legs inwards and hugged a pillow, ashamed that she had ruined their moment.

Kurama was... astounded to say the least. She respected him despite her own feelings. She cared for him despite how much he could _smell_ she wanted them... _both_. He internally shook his head and felt a pleased feeling wash over Youko, as if his plans hadn't gone perfectly, but he had achieved his end result regardless. Youko kissed her forehead and she used all the strength in her tired body to push him away from her.

"Thank you." He whispered, and they were gone in a flash. He could hear Trisha exhale as they escaped through the window.

"_You're just going to _leave _her there after you clearly tortured her physically, emotionally and mentally!? Have you lost your perverse, self-absorbed mind!?" _The human half lectured as their body raced through their neighborhood towards their house.

The demon half chuckled as he gave Shuichi back his body. The redhead found himself on his rooftop and leaned against his house's chimney. His human heart was racing and he didn't know why. His mind was in a panic.

Was she okay?

Was she confused?

Did she know that he heard?

How could he know without confronting her!?

Would it even be wise to confront her!?

"_Breathe, Shuichi_." The fox thief commanded. Kurama glared at the brick chimney, as if Youko's face was plastered on it.

"_How can you expect me to be okay with this? You just— _Kurama stopped short... realizing what he was about to say...

"_I just __**effectively pushed her away forever**__?" _The demon intelligently finished. Kurama was silent. What the hell was wrong with him? Trisha was his _friend_... ... ... right?

"_Obviously wrong. You are behaving as if I had ripped her throat out and taken her away from you, permanently. Are you afraid you will truly never see her again?" _Youko asked. Kurama faltered, confused.

Was he really..._displeased _with not encountering her in the future again?

"_Would you have cared if she really meant as little to you, romantically speaking, as you say she does? What if it were the detective's woman saying those words? Or Yukina? Or mayhaps even Kuwabara's sister? I doubt you'd be this frenzied over any of them." _The fox's words rang in his mind as he caught his breath.

Kurama didn't answer. How could he answer? Was he shutting down the idea of pursuing the girl romantically because he merely _settled_ for someone he was happy with? Was that why he... _shunned _the idea of being with her? Was he... really being a fool this whole time; ignoring his own feelings? Youko Kurama would not have stirred so heavily within him if he didn't feel something for the girl himself at some point. That was correct. Kurama had to have felt something for the fox thief to take interest. Whether what he felt was subconscious or conscious... it didn't matter. He had to have felt _something. _

"_Answer the question, Shuichi. You have yet to respond as quickly as usual." _Youko pressed, slightly annoyed.

"_Very well, Youko Kurama. The victory is yours this round.I concede." _Kurama gave in, physically lifting his hands up in defeat.

"_That being thoroughly established, I bid you goodnight; Shuichi. I hope you've learned your lesson." _

"_You may have won Youko, but that is no reason to be smug." _Kurama chastised. A responding chuckle was all he received as an apology and then silence befell his mind for the first time in a long time. He inhaled and exhaled calmly and blushed at the image of Trisha's crystal blue orbs, so lidded and enraptured, yet intelligent and calculating. His heart fell in remembrance of her words. Would she really take extra time to avoid him now? How could he comfort her? Should he reveal what he knows? Would she be embarrassed? With Youko gone... it would be _impossible _to clear the air... Of course, he could just _physically _transform into Youko and alleviate the situation, but something told him that with Trisha's growing spirit awareness she would most definitely _know _that he was not in fact Youko Kurama, merely Shuichi in disguise. He would just have to wait and see what would happen tomorrow...

-X-

"Thank you?" She questioned herself all night after a long, cold shower. "Thank you? Thank you for what?" She became angry. "Fine. Tomorrow I'm changing classes! I'm not going to have unrequited feelings anymore. Forget Youko. Forget Kurama. Forget them both!" She snapped. Suddenly, her eyes fell on a white slip of paper.

_Crap... Kurama left that!_

Her cheeks flushed and she prayed that he hadn't been aware of what she was saying. Of course, Youko said he kept things between them strictly between them... but still... She tugged on a lock of damp hair and groaned to herself.

_Stupid, irresistably sexy fox demons and their stupid friends! _

-X-

The next morning Kurama's worst fears were confirmed. Trisha was not in class. Their teacher had informed them that she had transferred into another class. Kurama vaguely remembered Kaito asking him what had happened but he couldn't remember saying anything back. He was sure the teacher and most of the females in class were relieved as well...

That afternoon he had called her upon arriving home to see if she would come to training at seven, like he had asked her to in his note. To his surprise she answered his phone call. It lifted his spirits, but a sinking feeling in his chest told him not to put all of his eggs in one basket...

"Hello?" She responded, professionally.

"Trisha, hello." He replied smoothly, trying to keep the stress out of his voice.

"What's up Shuichi?" Ouch; Quite blunt and right to the point.

"We have a seven o' clock session tonight... I was calling to see if you were well, seeing as you were not in class this morning..." He explained. It was a good cover, at least.

"Oh, yeah about that, um I'm still in school. I switched my classes around so I have to study a little. Sorry about that, but I don't think I can make it tonight. Don't worry though, I'm pretty sure Genkai-sama can make up for what I've lacked to learn..." She responded her tone slightly unhappy.

"Is... is everything all right?" He asked, hoping she would confide in him, regardless of how embarrassing the situation really was.

"Um, yeah... everything's okay. I really appreciate everything, _Shuichi_, but I don't think I'll be around much. You know, summer's coming in a month and we're going to have exams and yeah... you know..."

He felt sick. Worst of all he felt regret. Was it possible for someone so intelligent to be so utterly foolish on matters of the heart?

...

...

...

He supposed so. Stranger things have occurred.

"Oh of course. I wish you luck, Trisha. Please remember that if you are in any danger you can always contact me." He acquiesced.

"Right... thanks again. Anyway, I have to get back to studying, so I'll talk to you later! Bye!"

"Goodbye..." He responded, a bit melancholy, but she had hung up already. No wonder he didn't see her leaving after school... she had never left the school to begin-with...

-X-

"Was that really a date with Minamino you just blew off?" Masaya asked, gaping widely at her with his emerald eyes. They reminded her of Kurama's and she frowned.

"It wasn't a date. He was just supposed to help me with something; that's all." She covered. Technically, it wasn't a lie...

Her cell went off again. Christ, she would never catch up to what they were learning in Japanese class at this rate!

"Hello?" She answered again, glaring at the sun on its usual trajectory across the bright, blue sky.

"Hello, Trisha?" It was Kaito.

"Yo Kaito-kun! What's up?" She asked, a little uplifted that her friend called her.

"Drop the nonchalant act, please. What happened between you and our resident Kitsune?" He queried intelligently.

"Huh? Nothing happened. Why?" She asked.

"I hope you don't truly believe I'm dense. He was ignoring the world this morning. He was relatively normal until Namikawa-sensei mentioned that you had been transferred. I have suspicions..."

"He was probably just worried that something happened again, which by the way, I have yet to thank you immensely for helping out with! I really appreciated you looking out for me last time..." She vaguely reminded him.

"Oh; it's not a problem. If you need to talk more in-depth about anything give me a call. I have something I need you to help me with anyway."

"Oh sure. As soon as I'm home and done studying I'll hit you up." She responded.

"Trisha; that form of speaking doesn't work in Japan..." Kaito chided over the phone as Masaya laughed at her choice of words. Trisha sighed, embarrassed.

"Really? I'm trying hard to learn, okay? Sorry." She laughed. "I'll talk to you later."

"Of course; bye."

She shut her phone and smiled at it. At least she felt cared for, for once. Masaya was resting his fist on his cheek in front of a small notebook and their Japanese textbook. His intelligent eyes were studying her and he was smiling.

"What?" She blushed slightly. Was there something on her clothes or her face? She looked down and checked her uniform; it was clean! Masaya chuckled and shook his head.

"You seem happy; so I'll leave it at that. Let's get through chapters four, five and six. We can do it by the time the janitorial staff comes around with security to kick us out." He smiled and she nodded. She sat down next to him and listened to him explain about his native tongue and how to pick out mistakes in paragraphs.

-X-

Kurama paced his room. He had never been rejected. Actually; he had never tried to be with anyone besides Botan, thus the only girl he ever pursued didn't reject him; therefore he had never been blown off. It was one of those "firsts" of life that stung...mildly. His head was swimming with thoughts of the brown-haired girl and how much she seemed to care for him; enough to actually push him away; for his own good. He had realized his feelings a bit too late.

With a sigh, he changed into a pair of jeans, red converse and a grey T-shirt. He grabbed his black jacket, tied his hair back into a low ponytail and decided he would visit Genkai and speak to her about her apprentice-to-be.

-X-

Kurama watched the sun set as the train zoomed through valleys and cities. He wondered if Trisha was still at school. It would be a whole two more hours before security did a final sweep of the school to make sure it was empty. Was she by herself? Furthermore was it safe to leave her be with Ren still out there?

Hiei was currently working on tracking the demon and has yet to communicate with Kurama about the situation. Was everything quiet for now? Kurama certainly hoped so. The train screeched to a halt at the last stop and Kurama got out at a small, quiet station with a single tiled roof above benches next to the platform. It would be a nice, quiet trek through the nearby town and then a nice evening hike up the mountain before he reached Genkai's temple.

-X-

"And that is the correct kanji." Masaya smiled. "Well done."

"Amen." Trisha placed her head down on the table. Her eyes caught the sun dipping low in the sky outside.

_Well that was a nice distraction... I wonder what Kurama's doing... _

"Come on it wasn't _that_ bad!" Masaya shook her shoulder and she laughed.

"Yeah but I'm starting to see pictures where there should be words so I think it's about time to do something else." Trisha laughed and then stretched. Masaya closed the book with a nod.

"You're right. How about we go to a restaurant and grab something to eat? Unless of course, you're due at home with your family?" He asked, nervously. Trisha shook her head.

"No, we don't eat together. We can go." She smiled, as if it were nothing.

Masaya frowned. Her family situation wasn't exactly "the best". In order to bond, not only as a family, but as a group/clan people had to eat together. Of course, it wasn't his place to say anything about it, so he shook his head and pulled out his phone.

"Well, okay. Let me just send my mom a text message so she knows I won't be home." He explained.

Trisha nodded and watched him tap on his phone's screen, then put the device away when he was done. She shoved all of her books off of the table, into her bag, and slung the backpack across her chest.

"Ready to go?" He asked as he shoved his arms through his backpack's straps. Trisha smiled and nodded.

-X-

Kurama held the iron knocker in his hand and gazed at the lion it was shaped in. He slammed the round handle against the lion's tongue three times and waited. After about ten minutes of enjoying the crickets chirping, the doors opened, revealing Genkai.

"Well if it isn't my favorite redhead." Genkai greeted as she stepped aside. Kurama bowed and entered the wooden room that was aglow from the fire in the sconces lining the walls. The temple was immaculate, as usual. No doubt thanks to Yukina and the other demons that lived here.

"Good evening, Genkai. I was wondering if I could speak with you on a few matters." Kurama stated as the woman led him through several sliding rice-paper doorways. They settled down on cushions in front of a low table and a cat demoness in a red kimono appeared through the opposite doorway with a tea pot in one hand, and coasters with two small tea cups in another. She placed everything down on the table and sat in the corner of the room. Her black hair was tied neatly in a tight bun, and her sad, hiliter-yellow eyes were downcast, hidden by smooth, side-swept bangs.

"Miri, you can go back to sleep if you'd like. We have everything we need." Genkai mentioned in her worn voice.

"May I take a walk outside, master Genkai?" She asked shyly, her cat ears twitching and tail wrapping around her folded legs.

"Sure, just don't disturb any bat demons." Genkai cautioned jokingly, obviously referring to some incident Kurama knew nothing of. Miri let out a shy giggle and nodded. She bid them farewell and left.

"So, is this about the apprentice you're dumping on me?" The old woman asked as she poured him some tea.

"Right to the point, I see." Kurama responded as he watched her place the pot down gracefully, despite her age, and take a drink. He sipped his own tea and nodded in response.

"Koenma told me she's not entirely human. They're going to call me 'Genkai of the Mazoku' soon." The old woman chuckled. Kurama chuckled back.

"I am here to talk about her skills and where she is as a fighter." The redhead announced.

"I see... is that everything? You look miserable, kid. Three hundred years old or not, you can't fool this old bag." Genkai sipped calmly on her tea and watched Kurama smile.

"You're perceptive as usual." Kurama complemented with a shy blush. He had been discovered. Were his feelings really so apparent on his face?

"Age brings wisdom." Genkai shrugged nonchalantly.

"It does." Kurama agreed. Sitting with Genkai was always peaceful. Kurama found that the temple was one of the most relaxing places he's been, other than his own room, despite the fact that it was mostly occupied by demons and psychics.

"So what can she do so far?" The woman queried.

"I've trained her to run. She's fast, for a human. As for martial arts style? She has none. She's a brawler, like Yusuke, but a logical one. She seems like she will have excellent control of her spirit energy if she is taught properly. She's resourceful and a quick thinker. She is quite determined."

"Mhm. I see. And why is it that you can't bring her up to an acceptable speed and strength? I'm sure you can get her to spirit gun _someone's _sorry ass by the end of this month..." Genkai smirked into her tiny tea cup.

"Well... It was not my blunder. I believe Youko can tell you that tale, as well as take full responsibility for it." Kurama sniffed, like an annoyed parent. He closed his eyes and when they were open they were gold and Genkai could tell the two had swapped places because Kurama's seated position suddenly looked cockier and more confident than relaxed as it previously was.

"Clever, Shuichi. Clever... Good evening, master Genkai. You're looking well." Kurama spoke in a deeper tone than his usual. It was odd seeing such mischeif in the usually intelligent eyes of the redhead she had grown to love like one would a nephew. She chuckled to herself and took another sip of tea.

"Right, save the compliments for the younger ladies and get to the point, fox boy." She rasped. Youko chuckled to himself.

"I was in the middle of mating with the woman, when Shuichi broke through my inner barrier. Of course, at that time Trisha declared that she respected Shuichi and his happiness too much to mate with me and stated she would distance herself to cease complicating Shuichi's life. I do not know how she could have guessed that Shuichi and I have been on unreasonable terms, but she took it upon herself to fix the problem by removing herself from it. Of course after we made our great escape, Shuichi finally realized that he has had feelings for her as well." Youko briefly summarized.

"Ah, I see. A love... _square_, I suppose, since you're involved too." She tsked. "Botan's going to be heartbroken."

"Hmph. I find that I can't bring myself to care." A bored look passed on the redhead's face as he shrugged and then closed his cold eyes. When he reopened them, his back was less rigid and his eyes were back to their usual green.

"You've got one hell of an issue there, kid." Genkai spoke.

"I do. Any advice would be much appreciated, Genkai." Kurama responded in his usual, softer tone.

"Wait it out. Though you should've given her a chance _before_ she lost patience." Genkai chuckled. "Young and stupid... like we all are at that age." The old woman tsked.

Kurama smiled.

"Not Yusuke." He corrected. The spirit detective was always Keiko's and Keiko was always his. That had never changed once.

"No, not Yusuke. He was a dimwit in other ways, though; let's be honest." Genkai sipped with a smirk.

Kurama couldn't bring himself to disagree.

"Your apprentice is a flower Maiden." He changed the subject instead.

"I see. I thought they died out long ago." Suddenly Genkai's tone was serious.

"I suppose that you can tell her of her lineage when the time comes?"

Genkai sighed.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll handle it. I'm too old for conversations like this; How's your mother been?"

"She's well and happy." Kurama smiled.

-X-

Trisha sat across from Masaya at the upscale restaurant he had taken her to. The color scheme of the restaurant was beautiful; deep purples and light silvers and whites. It was a beautiful place, but it reminded her way too much Youko's hair on her pillows. The memories aroused her and she blushed, shaking her head. She met Masaya's cheerful gaze and blushed again. His eyes reminded her so much of Kurama's... Masaya frowned suddenly and cocked his head slightly to the side.

"Are you okay? You look... sad." He spoke, blushing a little at being so forward. She shook her head silently.

"No, no I was just remembering something. What's the best thing to eat here?" She asked to change the subject.

"Hmm... I guess that depends on what you like... Steak?" He grinned, dropping a stereotypical American favorite.

Trisha wrinkled her nose and shook her head. Masaya smirked.

"Beef?" He teased. She stuck her tongue out. "How about french fries?"

"Okay, gross. Seriously. I'm not _that _American! My diet doesn't solely consist of cow and potatoes!" She reached across the small round table and punched his muscular arm as he chuckled.

"Geez, you hit pretty hard." He spoke, rubbing his bicep through his black school uniform where her fist was just moments ago. "Have you been training?" He asked. She blushed.

"Something like that; sorry." She apologized. He laughed amiably and shook his head.

"I was joking. It didn't hurt at all; but for a girl you are pretty strong. That's a good thing." He smiled, easing her into comfort. A waitress decked out in a white dress and purple apron greeted them kindly. She had dark brown hair pulled up in a ponytail and deep brown eyes accentuated with makeup.

"Good evening, sir, madame, may I ask for your choice in beverage tonight?" She politely spoke and looked to Trisha for a response.

"Um, club soda, please."

_Nothing like some good old carbonated water... _

"With lemon?" The waitress asked.

"Yes, with lemon, please."

"Sir?" She asked as she turned to Masaya.

"Ginger-ale, if you please." Masaya smiled kindly. The woman bowed.

"Of course. My name is Mitsuki. If you find yourselves in any need, please take care to ask any of our staff or myself for service." With that she walked away and they continued to study the menu books. Each page was thick and elegantly written on, and the book was leather with the restaurants name imprinted on the front: "Crane." There was a picture of a crane with a fish in its mouth at the bottom.

_Yakitori with a side of rice sounds delicious... _Trisha mused.

-X-

_God she's so pretty... _Masaya couldn't focus on his menu as his attentions were drawn to the girl sitting across from him at the table. She seemed to be thinking about something positive, as there was a small smile on her full lips. He wondered if he would ever get the chance to kiss them one day and felt his face heat up.

_Is she even attracted to me?_ He asked himself. Maybe Kami-sama was smiling upon him. It seemed like a gift from heaven that the girl was transferred into three of his classes that morning. It gave him the opportunity to ask if she needed help catching up in advanced Japanese. They had spent hours studying and he found that he enjoyed her company and her sense of humor. However, every time she met his eyes she frowned. Was there something wrong with his eyes? He was lucky he was born with green eyes. His whole life he had been confessed to because of his eyes. It would be foolish to boast about being handsome, but Masaya was confident that he was.

Then he remembered how distraught Minamino seemed in advanced biology class and he wondered if Trisha's sudden appearance had anything to do with him. Had they secretly been going out and broke up? Did Masaya's eyes remind her of Shuichi's? He glowered at his menu. If that was the case and Minamno hurt his friend he would be unmerciful. She seemed to have had a lonely life and in his eyes, deserved only the best for her trials. If Minamino wasn't enough of a man to make her happy, Masaya would certainly try to be. With determination he looked up at their waitress and ordered what he wanted when he had been asked to respond.

-X-

Trisha was laughing as Masaya finished telling his story.

"So your mom really had to pick you up from school for that?"

"Yeah. It was really embarrassing and for the rest of the year they called me 'ramen'."

Trisha laughed harder.

"Oh god that's awful. One time I was on a photo-shoot with my sister. They were taking pictures of her. I thought I saw a shadow so I freaked out and screamed. Everyone in the studio looked at me really weird and my mom got mad so she took me outside and scolded me. I was really embarrassed because the teenagers nearby would jump out at me and stuff to scare me the rest of my time there." She giggled.

"That's cruel. How old were you?" He asked with an amused smile on his lips.

"I think I was like ten or something." She responded.

He chuckled. Their bill was suddenly dropped on their table and he grabbed it before Trisha could. The girl glared at him and tried to take the leather booklet from his hand but he held it out of her reach. Unfortunately, they were in a fine restaurant so she couldn't wrestle it out of his hands.

Masaya was smirking and he placed money into the booklet.

"You should have let me paid for at least half! That was expensive!" She hissed as he stood up and donned his backpack. He shook his head.

"A gentleman always pays for the lady. Always." He chastised with a single finger held up.

She stuck her tongue out.

"That's really old school, Masaya. I can handle myself." She smiled as she stood and slug her bookbag across her chest.

The boy shook his head again.

"It's a man thing. If you want, you can get it next time." He smirked at her.

"Fine, fine. Next time it's my treat and we go where I want. Got it?" She asked.

"Of course. I wouldn't have it any other way." Two people at the doors bowed to them as they walked out into the warm night. "Let me walk you home." He offered once they were out on the street. Many people rushed past them, either trying to get their shopping done or trying to get home.

"Oh, but Masaya, your house is in the other direction!" Trisha exclaimed.

He frowned at her. "Call it a bad feeling, or whatever. Just let me? Please?" He pressed.

_Does Masaya have spirit awareness to some degree? I wish I could ask someone who knows... this whole "avoiding Kurama" thing isn't easy... especially with stupid Ren still on the loose..._

She nodded and they took off. Masaya held his arm out and, bashfully, she took it. Maybe he wasn't as strong as Kurama was, but it was still reassuring to be in his presence... _and _he smelled nice too! She looked up at him when he wasn't looking and noticed that his hair looked so soft. It reminded her of Youko's and she frowned.

_God this is like a bad break-up... everything's reminding me of Kurama and Youko!  
_-X-

Kurama fell to his bed and inhaled the calming fragrance of his clean sheets He gazed up at the ceiling.

"_It's quiet without her around, isn't it? Right now we'd be training with her..." _Youko mused. Kurama could almost imagine the kitsune swishing his tail, a triumphant smirk on his face, as if it were _Kurama's _fault that the girl was avoiding them.

"_It is as much your fault she is avoiding us as it is mine. If you hadn't have been so perverse, perhaps she would be more comfortable with us." _Kurama heard himself growl in his mind.

"_And if you hadn't have been so set on that blue-haired __**annoyance**__ she wouldn't have felt guilty in the first place." _Youko growled back at Shuichi's logic.

"_Botan is not an annoyance. She is a pleasure to be around." _Kurama snapped.

"_Hmph, if you prefer to be blindly optimistic." _Youko insulted.

"_She is not blindly optimistic. She is a positive person."_The human half heatedly debated back.

"_Trisha is both an optimist and a realist. What more can you ask for?" _Youko refused to back down.

"_You find nothing about Botan attractive?" _Kurama demanded. In his mind his arms were crossed.

"_No, Shuichi; the prospect of being with a spirit woman is not appetizing. We will have to die to be with her permanently I hope you've realized that. Your mother, your friends... they would all assume you dead. It would be no better than me taking control of your body, eliminating you and going back to the demon world."_ Youko explained.

"_I believe Koenma will make an exception in our case." _Kurama argued.

"_I beleive not. Koenma is attracted to the woman, if you haven't readily noticed."_Youko sniped.

"_You lie." _Kurama glowered.

"_You delude yourself into thinking I lie." _Youko nonchalantly retorted.

Kurama sighed. This was going nowhere.

"_Look, Shuichi, if Botan was human and the three worlds were still one as they were so long ago, I would undoubtedly sleep with her, once, perhaps even twice, to satisfy you, but she does not compare to Trisha. She simply does not. I do not doubt she is exotic what with her blue hair and pink eyes but there is something simply alluring about Trisha that you cannot deny." _Youko bantered.

Kurama sighed again.

"_We will never know what is it until we spend more time with her. Like Genkai mentioned; we will have to wait, then."_ Kurama conceded.

"_I demand you inform Botan of this new development, Shuichi." _

"_Youko, that will crush her... We are forbidden from being as it is. How will she feel if she thinks I am constantly comparing her to another woman? One that she has met, no less!" _Shuichi argued.

"_Then tell her you need time to yourself to sort out the possibilities of your relationship. You do not deny that it would be life-altering to be with her. She said herself she would understand if you had any second thoughts." _Kurama could feel Youko shrugging in his mind.

"_... ... ... This will be difficult for me. You know this, Youko." _

"_I am here for support, cold and immoral as it may be." _

"_Youko!" _

"_Shuichi; relax. I am only teasing. If it becomes too much you will always have me to fall back on." _

"_Thank you, Youko." _

With that Kurama pulled out his communicator and dialed Botan's number.

-X-

OOOOOOOOOH big drama in the next chapter! I'm leaving the KB heartbreak for the next time though! What do you guys think!? Hit me up with reviews!

Are you all happy that Kurama realized he unnecessarily blew Trisha off in the romance department?

ANSWERS:

Yes you guys got a heated scene! I couldn't resist!

My top three favorite animes/mangas

Naruto

Yu Yu Hakusho

Inu Yasha

QUESTIONS FOR NEXT TIME:

are your plans for the summer?

2. Do you guys like Masaya and want him to be more involved in Trisha's life?

A) Yes

B) No

C) Yes but I don't want him involved

D) No I don't like him and don't want him involved. Screw him.

I don't own YYH or anything already owned. Al rights reserved!

See ya later space cowboy!


	20. Farewell

|20|

-X-

"Oh! Hello there Kurama how do you do?" Botan's cheerful face popped up on his communicator and he frowned almost immediately The blue-haired girl noticed his serious expression and frowned with him. "Kurama?" She asked, concerned. He unconsciously took a deep breath. This was going to hurt them both...

"Botan..." Was all he could say.

"_Shuichi, you are stalling. Stop chasing your tail and speak." _

"_It is not as easy as you presume, Youko." _

The girl seemed to understand and gave him a broken smile.

"I didn't think Koenma would allow it either..." She quietly revealed, unknowingly breaking a piece of Kurama's heart. He had _always _assumed he would find a way for them; had she no faith in him?

"_At least our angel believes in your capabilities... This one is like an animal raised in captivity. It does not know the freedom it can have." _

"_Silence." _The human half responded with his icy temper.

"That is not what I was going to talk about, Botan. There is someone else in this picture that I unfortunately cannot ignore..." Kurama revealed, sure his eyes were cold due to Botan's distraught expression. Suddenly she became angry. He did not want her to feel betrayed, but he could not lie to her, either. She deserved to know the truth.

"Well fine. It wasn't going to work anyway." She seemed more upset at the situation than him, but he couldn't be sure. She had technically admitted to stringing him along, but even so, he did not wish for her to be in pain. He studied her through the communicator. She was not as explosively upset as he had assumed. Was... was something else going on? His eyes narrowed in contemplation. Was there someone else involved on her end of the situation as well?

"Kurama..." She interrupted his erratic thoughts. "I still want you to be happy. Maybe it really just couldn't be." She acquiesced a sad smile on her face. "I want us to still be friends...please?" She asked politely.

"Of course." He did not press the matter on his mind any further. She seemed content to end what little they had. Perhaps his life was better without false hopes within it. "I will see you during our next case together." He forced a smile with practiced ease and she cheered up immediately.

"Right!" She agreed readily. Suddenly a bulky soul pressed his face into the screen, asking her what that "thing" she was holding was and why she was talking to it.

"I have to go Kurama! By—!" She hung up in the middle of her farewell and Kurama swore if he had ears atop his head like Youko they'd be bent over in depression. He was in disbelief. How could he have been such a fool?

"_She did not seem as upset as a normal woman should have been, Shuichi. Perhaps this spirit did not value you as much as you thought?" _Youko knowingly spoke. The words stung his human heart like an arrow had been shot into his chest.

"_Enough. It is time to put this behind us." _The human half coldly retorted. He did not wish to feel like a fool any longer.

"_Very well, Shuichi... Perhaps we should see Yusuke? If anything he will enjoy the spar that will help us vent..." _The thief tried to sound exuberant, even though he was concerned for his vessel.

"_That's an excellent idea." _Shuichi agreed, though he still sounded numb.

"_Do cheer up, Shuichi..." _Youko groaned.

There was a long pause in their shared psyche and the fox thief waited for his friend and brother; his other half, to finish thinking.

"_... ... ... Thank you Youko... I apologize for being stubborn. I should have known better than to ignore your opinions and thoughts, especially when they are so similar to my own." _Shuichi apologized sincerely. A smug feeling befell the redhead and he knew he should have thought twice before apologizing to the infamous kitsune.

"_You can permit me to go on a heist to make up for it, of cou—_

"_**Absolutely not**__." _He interrupted._ "Last time you stole, it put Trisha in danger. I felt awful for days and you did as well!" _

The fox demon chuckled.

"_I only jest, Shuichi..."_

"_Of course you do." _The human half "agreed", only half believing his demonic counterpart.

-X-

A solid month passed by rather quickly after that night. Thanks to help from Masaya, Trisha passed all of her pre-summer tests with flying colors. Right after the last day of school ended, she slipped away from her friends to travel with Botan to the spirit world. Currently, she was waiting in Koenma's office, chit-chatting about school with the very cheerful reaper.

"So how's Yusuke?" Trisha asked to change the subject.

"Oh I haven't seen him recently, but I did drop in a few weeks ago. He asked about you!" Botan giggled.

"Oh well tell him I say 'hi' next time you see him! I have to visit him sometime soon..." Trisha mused as Koenma walked in, an old woman with pale skin and wavy, pink-grey hair in tow behind him. Botan hushed up, winked at Trisha and took her place next to Koenma, who sat in his chair, the short old lady on his right.

_Did she just die? Is that why she's here? Did they bring me here at the wrong time? _Trisha wondered.

"Ahem." Koenma theatrically cleared his throat. Trisha crossed her arms, nervously. "Trisha, meet master Genkai. She will be over-seeing your training from here on." Koenma announced.

Trisha's eyes widened minutely in surprise.

_Oops... I guess she's __**not**__ a dead soul... _

The teenage girl bowed respectfully and listened to the old woman laugh as she rose to stand straight again.

" 'Nothing like Yusuke. At least this one's got respect. Come on, there's much to get through and we don't have much time." Genkai began to walk through a door and Trisha gaped at Koenma and Botan who both nodded their approval. She shrugged and followed the woman through a door that led to a portal. That portal led to a mountainous region, in which they climbed over ten-thousand stone steps to reach a temple, which was, apparently, where the woman lived. The whole trip was awkwardly silent to the point where Trisha became nervous and began to fidget with the red skirt of her school uniform.

Eventually, they walked through two large redwood doors and removed their shoes before stepping into a greeting room alight with fire from sconces on the walls. They traveled through the temple a bit, passing an apparition or two, much to Trisha's surprise, and ended up in a pristine tea room. A beautiful cat demoness named Miri served them tea. The silence raged on, but intelligently, Trisha waited for Genkai to speak first.

"You can call me Genkai. So, a little fox told me that you're a flower maiden. Do you even know what that means?" She spoke in a business-like tone even though she was smirking. Trisha was surprised Kurama had spoken about her but then realized that he was thorough and responsible... _of course _he would have told Genkai as much as possible about her! Speaking of Kurama... She hadn't seen him in a whole month and still felt awkward without him around. She shook her head in response to Genkai's question and sipped her tea, waiting for the woman to speak. Genkai sighed and cleared her throat.

"Long ago, the three worlds were one. Spirits, demons and humans lived among each other. It was what everyone knew as the first 'Dark Age'. During this time period, priestesses would purify demons to protect the human villages. As a result, spirits were left to find peace and rest by themselves, demons hated humans and humans hated demons."

_Oh, so that's why people leave things at the sight of where their loved ones died...It's just a tradition..._

"However, it was not like this forever. Very few demons and humans fell in love and gave birth to half demons and partial demons. It was not long before the priestesses discovered that these half/partial demons had the ability to control certain plants and change what the demons thought of humans. It was a brilliant method of tricking demons into not pillaging human villages. Of course, demons realized this as well and figured they could use these flowers to destroy the humans and the priestesses who claimed so many of their kind's lives. Are you following?"

Trisha nodded, silent and curious about the story Genkai had to tell.

"— Anyway, pretty soon a village of priestesses' came across a clan of silver kitsune. They made a pact; the kitsune would help move these 'possessor' plants to a secret location and the priestesses' would protect the plants; promising not to use them against demon kind. In case the priestesses needed protection, the kitsune would protect them as well. Also, in exchange for their cooperation the priestesses would be required to protect every stolen artifact the kitsune brought in with their abilities. No demon would be able to reclaim something that the Northern kitsune clan stole." Genkai explained.

"_Where the hell does she get all of this ancient information?" _

"Eventually these plans came to fruition and a very powerful priestess was born among these demons and humans that lived in harmony together. She became the wife of a demon, though no one knows who the demon was. Together they mated until they made a child with the perfect mixture of human and demon in her to control the possessor plants. This child was called the 'flower maiden' and she was the first of many with that title. It was her duty to fight off demons who wanted the plants to find ways to use them."

_Weird... kind of like Ren and I are today..._

"But of course, _nothing gold can stay_,as the saying goes, and eventually arguments arose due to the stress of war with other humans and demons. Many wanted the possessor plants burned because they posed a great threat to the entire world, not only the human half of that world, but to the demon half as well. They felt that there simply was not enough being done to protect them from falling into the wrong hands. And believe me, there were many powerful _and _wrong hands after those plants at the time. Many others felt it would be a shame to genocide all the plants and so the two sides fought among themselves in the midst of war with a powerful, 'faceless' foe. Many of the silver kitsune died, leaving only a few behind. The plants were finally either burned or hidden elsewhere— no one knows. The last remaining survivors went into hiding during the separation of the three worlds and continued to give birth to partial demons such as yourself in the demon world as tradition. Apparently, years later, the faceless foe returned, angry that at least one part of that history wasn't buried forever. A guardian took you, the last flower maiden alive, here to the human world, where you would at least be safe until you were old enough to control your abilities and defend yourself." The old woman finished.

_So that means... Youko... was there during this story at some point... AND Sevili... Does he remember anything or were his memories of that time wiped away? _

"Wow... that's... a lot to take in..." Trisha mumbled. "Thanks for letting me know... but... now what?" She asked, feeling awkward now that she knew her roots.

The old woman smirked and took a sip of her tea to moisten her throat.

"Now you go home and come up with some BS about doing volunteer work for the next two months." Genkai smirked. "Tell 'em you'll be taking care of a little old lady for extra credit."

Trisha snorted.

"My mom and dad might believe that but I doubt my sister will. Whatever, I'll do my best." She clenched her fists in determination. This was it. This was where she was going to stop being a weakling!

"Excellent. We'll start in a few days."

-X-

Kurama was glad to see his friend as he greeted the former spirit detective in the tea room of his castle.

"Yo fox boy, how ya been?" Yusuke gave him a cat-like grin. Kurama smiled back. This was the fourth time or so he had come to visit his friend in the last month.

"Well, I must say."

"Oh, how's Trisha? You bang her yet?" Yusuke seemed to pick something out of his ear with his pinky finger as Kurama's cheeks pinked a bit.

"Trisha was well the last time I saw her. We do not have that kind of relationship, Yusuke." Kurama quietly responded.

"Yeah, yeah, that's what you say _now_ fox boy. Even I know the kitsune inside you wants her." The spirit detective was wearing a grin that Kurama only saw on Youko during the most mischievous occasions.

"_Yusuke has grown very perceptive." _Youko complemented with a chuckle.

"_Indeed." _

"How has your training been going?" Kurama asked to change the subject.

"Oh it's been great! Wanna spar again?" The former detective smirked.

"Gladly, I've been itching for a good test of skills recently." Kurama agreed with an eager smirk on his face. Perhaps afterwards, he would tell Yusuke what had occurred a month ago...

-X-

A few lies and days later, Trisha had packed the majority of her work-out clothes in a bag and headed to the train station to get to Genkai's temple. Her hair was up and even though she was in a pink sports tank and black shorts, she was still sweating in the heat of the transitional period between the end of spring and the beginning of summer. To her surprise, she felt a familiar spirit energy approach the platform. She turned her head to find Kurama running towards her, his bangs sticking to his face with sweat. He was dressed in red cargo shorts that nearly outshone his hair and a white t-shirt.

"Trisha!" He exclaimed as he caught up to her. She gaped at him with a bewildered look on her face. He appeared disheveled and somewhat beat-up. His white shirt had a tear or two in it and his cargo shorts were blotched with dirt in certain spots. As he came closer, she smelled the demon world stench on him and wrinkled her nose.

_So that's where he's been...gross... demon world smells awful... like dead bodies! _

He smiled at her cheerfully as he stood a friendly distance from her.

"Kurama?" She replied, confused. "What are you doing here?" She hadnt seen him in months! Memories of Youko's kisses, his arms encasing her, his lips leaving a trail of fire that burned down the curve of her neck still to this day, flooded her mind and she blushed bright red.

"_Don't mess this up, Shuichi..." _

"I came to say goodbye. You will be stuck in that temple for quite some time..." He chuckled lightheartedly.

Trisha grinned proudly. Yes she would be in that temple for two straight months but that time would be spent learning and growing!

"Yeah that's the plan, all right." She agreed.

"I wanted to wish you luck and give you something." He smiled. She cocked an eyebrow, wary of his gifts. They were usually the type that nearly killed her...

_There's something up with that smile... it's never that easy... _She mentally leered as she narrowed her eyes at him. His expression fell and then he laughed as he must have realized what she was thinking.

"I promise this one will not be harmful towards you in any way." He spoke with his hands up in mock armistice.

"I don't know..." She spoke in a tone full of distrust.

"Believe me, it will protect you should you find yourself in a bind." He explained and held out his hand. She watched a tiny seed grow into a bright, green vine with curiosity. He held up his hand to let her know he was moving closer. She watched his serene expression as he placed the vine in her hair. She felt a small fraction of his spirit energy in the object as it sprung to life and wormed its way into her hair. She shuddered a bit at how snake-like it felt.

"That should do it. Hopefully next time I see you, you will be fit to spar." He smiled and turned his head as the approaching train caught his attention.

"Thanks." She smiled, still feeling mildly awkward from the last time she saw his other half.

"Take care, Trisha." He quietly wished as the train stopped and its doors opened.

"I will. You too, Kurama!" She smiled. "I'll kick your butt next time I see you, so prepare for it!" She boldly poked his chest, earning a mildly startled expression from him. Cheekily, she stuck her tongue out and hopped onto the train before she could see his response. There were too many people on the electric machine and she could not see him from the inside, but she felt his spirit energy on the platform It stayed there until she was too far away to sense him. Somehow, a longing feeling ached in her chest like a hole.

_It's going to be a loooong two months... _

Little did she know, the redhead felt the same way as he watched her train disappear around a curve.

"Thank you for giving me the confidence to do that, Yusuke..." Kurama murmured to himself. If It weren't for the former spirit detective literally kicking him back into the human world, Kurama would have missed his opportunity to say goodbye.

-X-

Okay so that was a short chapter. We have to say goodbye to Kurama for a little bit; maybe like a chapter or two. But thankfully we will be saying hello to a lot more characters soon and we can add a bit more comedy to this fic! *cough*ChuandRinku*cough*

QUESTIONS!

Do you think Sniper is sexy?

A)Yes

B)No

C)I don't care

Would you like to see him in this fic?

A)Yes

B)No

C)I don't care

Should there be a party-ish scene in this fic around Christmas time or something?

A)Yes

B)No

C)Stop trying

D) If "A", Insert what you would like to see during the party scene here

I don't own YYH All rights reserved!

See ya later Space Cowboy!


	21. Yukina

WEEDS CAN TURN INTO FLOWERS

|21|

-X-

After throwing her bag in her rather Spartan room, Trisha found her way through the maze that was Genkai's temple and met the old woman outside. The two greeted each other in a large field just before a forest that made Trisha's spirit awareness vibrate with enthusiasm. The sun was still high in the mid-afternoon sky.

"Good, you're here. By the end of this week you will have a basic idea of how to control your spirit energy. You will also know the basics of an experimental martial art I've been working on that's based off of Tai-Chi. Your eyes mean business so there will be little time for breaks. If you're going to work hard, so will I." Genkai explained in a logical but hurried tone.

"Right." Trisha nodded, a determined expression on her face. She had two very large things to accomplish but she _would _at all costs accomplish them. If this is what she was supposed to learn in just a week, she could only imagine all the _other _things this woman had to teach her!

"First, I will explain what this style is called and why it's called what it's called and what kind of mindset you have to have in order to accomplish it. Follow me." With that, Genkai spun on her heel, leaving Trisha to lag for a second before running to catch up with her. The two women trekked through the woods for a silent five minutes, just listening to the sounds of birds and forest animals. They eventually came upon the ambience of a babbling stream through a bright clearing. The grass was an electrifying green and the sun danced atop it in spots through the thick, green foliage of treetops overhead.

_Oh my dear God a dip in the river would be nice to cool off from this heat! Ack! Wait! Focus… even if it's hot! _

Genkai kneeled at the riverbank and motioned for Trisha to walk over. The younger girl nodded and sank to her knees, peering at her and Genkai's reflection in the crystal, clear water. The two women were polar opposites in appearance. Trisha's eyes were bright and grey-blue and Genkai's were dull and dark brown. Where Trisha's skin was aglow with youth, Genkai's was paling and ashen with age. It made Trisha frown as she realized that one day Genkai would no longer be around. The girl wondered if it was emotionally safe to become very close to her.

_Yusuke would be mad if he knew I was thinking like that… Genkai's still alive and kickin'! She'll be all right! _With that the girl's mood improved and she smiled at their reflections.

"Look deep in the water and tell me what you see." Genkai commanded.

Trisha narrowed her eyes and gulped. Was that a figurative or literal question? She couldn't see more than smooth, grey stones and tiny, silver fish beneath the surface...

"Um, just some rocks and fish..." She bashfully responded. Genkai chuckled.

_Uh oh… please tell me I didn't mess up!_

"That is correct. Watch the water. What's it doing?" She asked again.

Trisha frowned, but assumed she would understand soon enough.

"It's flowing? Just chilling, I guess... Doing its own thing…" She murmured awkwardly.

_I hope I'm doing this right… really… _

"Exactly. Now watch what happens when I do this..." Genkai reached behind her and found a thick, gnarled stick. She jammed it into the water, in between the rocks at the bottom of the river, scaring the fish. "Put your hand in and feel. Tell me what the water is doing around this stick." She commanded.

Nervously, Trisha stuck her hand in the water. She felt the current rushing around the stick, enveloping the stick; Gliding to accommodate its intrusion.

"The water is flowing around the stick... like the fish are too..." She explained as she felt slimy scales brush against her hand. She pulled the appendage out of the water and shook off the excess liquid, then wiped her cold palm against her soft pants.

"Exactly. The style I created is simply named 'Water'. Its purpose is to use an opponent's force against themself. Watch the stick eventually bend over in the current." She pointed an aged, scarred finger at the object.

Trisha turned her attention from Genkai's aged eyes to the stick. Indeed, it was beginning to sag against the pressure of the water. Its own height and position was working against it.

"So it's kind of an elusive style..." She concluded, looking to Genkai for either a nod or a correction of her analysis.

"Absolutely. You will do to others what this current does to this stick. I will teach you how to deflect attacks of those stronger than you. That will be your core fighting style. However, once you have it down, we will incorporate a different style called "fire". You will use "Fire" to hide your "Water". Fire is aggressive and gives your opponent a false idea of where your strengths lie. Once you master water, you will learn Fire along with a few spirit-energy-based attacks all spirit detectives need to know. I think all of this will take a solid month for you to learn, since you seem to be so determined. Once you master water, fire, spirit gun and shot gun, we'll teach you some other useful things. How does that sound?" She asked with a positive smile.

Trisha beamed.

_There are no riddles! This lady is so straightforward! This is SO cool! _

"It sounds freakin' awesome!" She exclaimed in a moment of unbridled excitement. A few startled birds flew out of the vicinity and Genkai chuckled to herself at Trisha's enthusiasm.

"Very well. Let's go back to the field and begin. There are a few core moves to "water" that you need to practice and master. Once you have those basics committed to muscle-memory and can perform them in your sleep we will move on." She expressed in a wise tone. With that explanation, she rose and began to walk back towards the clearing. Trisha practically _bounced_ behind her in excitement.

_I-Don't-haf-ta-wo-rry-about-dyyyy-ing! I-don't-haf-ta-wo-rry-a-bout-dyyyy-ing! Na-na-na-poo-poo! _She sung in her head, mentally sticking her tongue out at Kurama.

_But still, he was a good teacher anyway… just a little scary and strict… Even so I do miss him and the way he just looks at you and you just get what he means… _

She chuckled at the memory of her red-haired companion and caught up to Genkai.

-X-

Two hours later, Trisha was in the middle of repeating a string of basic formations when Genkai, who was previously sitting and watching her student intently from beneath a large oak, called for an immediate break.

"What's wrong?" Trisha asked, frowning and dropping her raised hands, then fidgeting nervously with the back of her shorts. Genkai smiled to reassure her. Trisha decided she liked the mysterious smiled the old lady tossed out. They made her smile back naturally.

"It's time to eat. You'll never have the muscle you need eating only three times a day. The reason why you don't have a six pack yet with all of that running you've been doing is because you're not eating enough. Starting now you're going to eat high-protein foods every two hours. No more than a handful at a time. Got it?" Genkai explained.

Trisha blushed.

_Well I certainly tried my hardest before... She's right though… just exercising 'till you're half-dead isn't enough! Diet has to be a part of it… _Suddenly she blushed more… _Wait a minute…. Was Kurama too… __**polite **__to ask me about my diet!? Gah! Maybe I should've just told him instead? Oh God, Trisha… fail… epic FAIL. _

"R-right!" Genkai was already walking away by the time the younger woman responded. Trisha ran to catch up with her. After a healthy banana a few walnuts, and a whole water bottle, she was refreshed and back at work.

-x-

That night, Trisha fell onto her twin-sized mattress with a thump and a resounding squeak from the old bed. God did she miss her room at home and the cat that usually spent time in it! She had given the cat to Masaya to take care of for the summer. As she hoped the cat was doing fine and wasn't depressed, she realized she was caked in sweat and felt disgusting. Thus, _almost _begrudgingly she got back up and trudged over to her small, nearly empty closet. She pulled a towel off of a hanger and changed into a white yukata and slippers, tossing her clothes into a cloth hamper. She grabbed her plastic make-up bag of toiletries and found her way around the temple to the shower/bath area as stealthily as possible.

She went down to the female wing and entered a tiled area with several showers lining both walls on her left and right. The tile patterns were mostly pink marble or some sort and the curtains for the showers were white. She hung her robe on a hook hanging outside of the shower stall and entered the marble cubicle once the water was the right temperature.

As she stepped into the steaming water, she exhaled in relaxation. Every tense muscle seemed to melt an every sore tissue seemed to ease back into comfort.

_Oh man… it's nice to not feel sticky… _

After showering, she wrapped her towel around her and decided to relax in the hot springs. She walked through the shower room, down a hallway that led to a porch, placed her stuff in a wooden cubby along the wall and then entered the steamy hot spring that was surrounded by a natural wall of rock. Miri was in the hot spring—surprisingly enough since she was a _cat_ demon— amiably chatting with a red-eyed girl with aqua hair. They both turned to her and smiled upon seeing her.

"Would you like to join us, Ms. Trisha?" Miri politely asked. Trisha immediately smiled. Miri was a kind soul and she couldn't see the cat demoness ever living in demon world. Her eyes were so gentle. Too gentle for the barbaric life forms that existed there.

"Yeah sure I'd love to, Miri! Maybe you can introduce me to your friend." As Trisha dropped her towel and lowered herself into the spring with a content sigh, Miri began the introductions.

_Oh yeah… hot water's the best. Most people would hate this and cry about it being too hot but… man… this feels __**good**__. _

"Yukina, this is Genkai's new student, Ms. Trisha. Ms. Trisha this is Yukina, she's a good friend of Genaki's!" Miri smiled kindly with a cute blush on her pale cheeks.

Trisha giggled at Miri's formality.

"You can just call me, 'Trisha' Miri." She corrected.

The cat demoness blushed in slight embarrassment and nodded.

"It's nice to meet you, Yukina." Trisha smiled at the quiet demoness next to Miri who sat in between them. The human girl stuck out her hand and the pretty girl grasped it warmly. Trisha shivered upon touching her hand. It was slightly cool to the touch.

"How are you so cold after boiling in here for however long?" She asked bluntly, much to Miri's entertainment. Yukina giggled along with the other girl as well.

"I'm a koorime; an ice apparition." She explained shortly.

"Oooh. That's so cool! Can you freeze things, then?" She queried curiously as she sat in a carved out seat in the rock wall that made up the spring. Yukina giggled and nodded shyly.

"Yes I can." She responded and Trisha could swear the girl looked familiar to some extent. "May I ask how you came to know master Genkai?" She queried politely with a curious look on her face.

"Um… well… wow… that's a really long story." Trisha laughed. "But we have time, so I guess I can tell it." She shrugged.

Yukina shimmied closer as did Miri and Trisha blushed. It was not customary in the United States to be naked in a bath with other women. She shook her head free of those shackling thoughts, however and cleared her throat.

"Well, I guess it all started with Ren. He's this crazy shapeshifter who was after me when I moved to this country. He disguised himself as Kurama— I don't know if you guys know him, or not—

After the two girls nodded, Trisha continued. "— Anyway, he disguised himself as Kurama and kidnapped me! I thought I was going to _die_, seriously. He took me to demon world and that's where the _real_ Kurama saved me. He became my teacher but it was a secret. Eventually Koenma found out and decided to get me trained by Genkai. I wanted to try it, so that's how I ended up here. It's a great way to spend my summer away from school." She smiled, hoping that story was brief enough. Yukina giggled.

"Wow that sounds like quite an adventure." The koorime commented.

"Wow, I'd be scared too! Shapeshifters are the worst! They always lie and change their minds!" Miri frowned. "They're kind of psycopaths…"

"Yeah you're not wrong about that…" She visibly shuddered at how unpredictable Ren was every time she met him… "Anyway how did you guys end up here? I'm sure your stories are more interesting than mine!" Trisha laughed to herself.

"Yukina was looking for her brother when she was kidnapped." Miri spoke to start.

"But then Yusuke and Kazuma came to save me!" Yukina smiled. "After a while, I met them again during a tournament and we all became close friends. I asked Mr. Hiei to help me look for my brother and decided to stay here." She smiled warmly, though Trisha could see the slight sadness in her expression.

"Oh… Wow. Have you heard anything from your brother yet, then?" Trisha asked, concerned. Was that what she was upset about?

"No… but sometimes I think Mr. Hiei knows something and just isn't telling me…" She frowned and Miri put a supportive hand on her shoulder.

"_Hiei"… "Hiei"… Who is Hiei again? Oh yeah! The guy I'm going to be working with eventually… maybe… Hmph. I should ask the jerk if he's lying about something when I see 'im! _

"Well if I'm ever in demon world and I find someone who looks like you, I'll knock him out and drag him here." Trisha smiled and gave the koorime a thumbs up.

Yukina laughed and Trisha frowned, noticing the pretty girl was laughing at what she had said.

What was so funny?

"I'm sorry, Trisha. My brother doesn't look anything like me. Even though he's my twin he wasn't born an ice demon. I was told he's a fire apparition." She frowned suddenly, as if her search was hopeless.

_What's she worrying about? She's a demoness… she has __**years **__to find her brother… She'll come across him eventually… _

"Yeah yeah, I'll still find him for you, or try at least." She continued smiling in a positive manner.

"She's right. You have many people helping you look." Miri smiled and decided the focus the attention on herself. "My story is simple. Demon world was just not the place for me to be. When I stumbled upon this temple after fleeing from hunters who wanted my fur, Genkai-sama took me in. I've been here since!" Miri smiled and Trisha smiled back.

"I understand what you mean. You're really nice, Miri. I can't imagine you comfortable in demon world."

Miri giggled. "Sometimes I think I was born with a human soul."

Her cat tail wiggled beneath the water.

"You're a cat demon right?" Trisha asked suddenly and Miri nodded. "How are you… um… _okay _with being in the water?" She looked confused as she asked.

The dark-haired girl laughed beautifully.

"Some cats detest water. I happen to like it. Here in the human world, it's quite warm!" She explained.

"Oh. Well yeah to each his own, I guess." She shrugged in response.

-X-

After talking for another twenty minutes the girls stepped out of the hot spring, dried off and dressed in their yukatas and slippers. They bid each other goodnight, with a promise to see each other the next night and went to bed.

_Jeez… I hope I can get all the formations down by tomorrow. Maybe with some luck I'll keep memorizing them in my sleep… That way I'll know them by heart and won't have to struggle tomorrow! _

That was Trisha's last thought before she fell into a deep, deep slumber that only total exhaustion could bring about.

-X-

Oooookay

Question 1:

What do you think of Akaru? Would you guys like to see the southern fox clan again in this fic?

Questions 2: Who is the sexiest anime guy? Ever. Yes. I mean: EVER. The one who is sooooo sexy no one can top him! This includes personality, looks and everything.

This one is titled "Yukina" because Trisha met Yukina. ^_^

Leave juicy reviews!

I don't own YYH. All rights reserved! 

PS

Send me love in your reviews? I have to get a root canal done and was in SO much pain this past memorial day weekend. I thought I was going to rip my hair out, seriously. Thank God for antibiotics and kind dentists who care!

See ya later Space Cowboy! 


	22. Hiei

WEEDS CAN TURN INTO FLOWERS

|22|

You know, you reviewers are awesome! I love your opinions and your analyses and your commentary! Reviews keep me going and I'd like to thank all of you for the ones you guys have given this story so far! ARIGATO!

-X-

It was bright and sunny. The weather has been nice. The birds have been singing. That incessant human who seemed so cheeky with his sister has been practicing the same body formations over…and over…and over… _again_. She practiced so incessantly his Jagan had already memorized them all and whispered her mistakes to him every time it noticed she was posing or moving incorrectly.

"Koi." The hag ground out in her ancient voice.

A responding grunt ensued, disrupting the chirping of birds, and the human girl fell into the formation, this time with perfect grace.

Hn. She has been doing well this time around. Though that was nothing to be proud of. She was still only on the basics. Hiei could only imagine what the more advanced techniques to this style were. Though that, the girl would learn through battle, he assumed.

"_I have to get better… I have to know this like my own spirit energy… I only have five and a half days left… I have to get stronger… I __**have **__to get stronger." _

His Jagan played her thoughts in his mind like a recording. For the most part they were the same unless she had to use the bathroom or eat. Then she often thought about his sister and how she would _"shake the information about her brother out of that Hiei guy" _when she saw him. It made Hiei smirk. Pathetic. She often thought of Kurama and how she had to get stronger, just to show him that she could. She had a pure, but relentless mind. She would stop at nothing to accomplish her goals, and for that he had respect for her, even if her goal was to surpass his closest friend. He continued basking in the sunlight of the human world, his cloak beneath him on his chosen tree branch for the day. A bug flew past his face and he idly killed it with a flare of his spirit energy. He watched it spontaneously combust and turn into the tiniest flecks of ash.

It's life was over.

…

…

…

Hn. Oh well.

-X-

"It's midday." Genkai announced with one of her mysterious smiles. "You've been doing well in keeping the tension out of your movements. Water is not tense. It is fluid. If you can do this perfectly one more time after we eat, I can say you have it down. Let us have lunch." Her sharp eyes seemed to shoot a look at a tree nearby, but Trisha ignored it, too hungry to care. Her metabolism was going crazy. Her body had gotten used to eating frequently and less in amount in just a day and she felt great because of the change.

"Mmmm! Lunch! Let's eaaaaat!" She raced inside, her voice trailing off as she disappeared around a corner. Genkai trailed slowly after her, smiling at the girl's quick progress. Her newest student was doing better than her favorite student did when he first started. Kurama was right when he spoke about the girl. She was determined. Better yet, the word for her was most fittingly "relentless". Genkai decided she could deal with that; especially since the girl was kind and listened to everything Genkai said. There were no arguments between them and she always did her absolute best. She didn't need her rear-end kicked over and over like Yusuke did when he showed up. She wasn't in need of any boot camp. All this girl needed was guidance, time and patience. All were things that Genkai was fully capable of offering. Wryly, the old woman smirked to herself upon entering her home.

… … … It would be funny to watch Yusuke fight against her. "Water" was the rival style to "Spirit Wave" in every way. She wondered how that battle would turn out, assuming Yusuke still preferred to use "Spirit Wave".

-X-

"Yukina-chan!" That fox's stupid student was _annoying_. Not nearly as mind-numbingly aggravating as that oaf Kuwabara, but still annoying. "Thanks for slicing these apples! Do you want me to get you something tonight from the market in the town at the base of the mountain?" She asked annoyingly… excitingly.

_It must be the adrenaline from the exercise… Stupid human. _

"Oh, no thank you, Trisha. I have everything I need for my kimonos." His sister politely responded. She really had a kind soul. Hiei would have "politely" glared at the wench until she left. What was she doing with Genkai and not the fox himself anyway? Last he heard Kurama was training that girl to become stronger… possibly for the role of the new spirit detective…

Curiosity… It was an evil beast.

But it had to be satiated. With that conclusion he left to go find his friend and former partner in crime to investigate and gather information in his own way. No doubt, his kitsune friend was probably mulling about his human mother's home; cleaning or helping organize as usual.

-X-

"Oh hello Hiei, it's wonderful to see you here." Kurama nonchalantly greeted upon entering his room and finding the fire demon lazily lounging on his bed as usual. He chose to not aggravate his migraine and refrained from flipping on the light as he trudged over to his desk and chair.

"Hn. As if you didn't know I was already here." Hiei replied. That fox was fooling no one. Kurama felt him three blocks away. Hiei knew because that was when Kurama's spirit energy shifted and became mildly alert before the redhead realized the energy in his home was just coming from his friend. Regardless, it was near midnight. What took him so long to get home?

"Point taken. How was your day?" Kurama asked as he settled into his chair. Hiei could see the tiredness in the fighter's body as he sat. He looked like an old human in a young human's body.

"Hn. How was your spar with Yusuke?" Hiei smirked. Nothing escaped his Jagan. Kurama chuckled in response.

"Decent. Yusuke's quite faster than I am in this body. He could give _you _a run for your money." Kurama smiled to himself. Hiei's pride didn't fall for the bait, however. He would fight Yusuke eventually and the detective would still be slower, even if by just a fraction.

"No one has been here all day." The fire demon dryly commented. But Kurama would understand what he meant.

"Mm, yes. My family is away on a business trip and will be taking a vacation while they're there as well." The fox responded. "The place isn't the same without them." He mildly frowned.

Hiei smirked.

"Thought you'd be busy training the new detective woman?" The fire demon jeered, but he knew Kurama was aware that he was only picking on him.

"Of course not. I'm assuming you mean to reveal that you've been at Genkai's temple." Kurama spoke with a knowing half-smile that Hiei usually hated. "How is Yukina faring?" He politely asked, as well as changed the subject.

"Well. She appreciates the detective woman annoying her as much as she appreciates that idiot annoying her too." He commented only to receive a chuckle in response.

"Perhaps Trisha and Kuwabara don't actually 'annoy' her then." Kurama offered.

"Hn." Preposterous. His sister _was _too kind, however.

"Well its good to know she's making friends…" Kurama commented but Hiei was almost positive he wasn't talking about Yukina anymore.

"_Yes, friends in high places…" _Youko commented. "_Hiei will eventually have to work with her. It's good she gets along with his sister."_

"_I cannot refute." _Kurama responded. _"No doubt Hiei went to spy on her progress due to Koenma informing him of their future partnership on cases." _

"I did go to check her out because of that, fox." Hiei grumbled.

Kurama chuckled. There was no hiding thoughts from Hiei, of course…

"Youko wishes you well, Hiei." He spoke sheepishly.

"Hn."

And suddenly, Hiei was gone and his spirit energy was so far away, Kurama couldn't sense him.

"_Of course, he wouldn't be Hiei otherwise…" _Youko dryly commented, though Kurama knew his other half meant well.

"Take care of her, Hiei…" The redhead whispered to the ceiling of his pitch-black room.

-X-

Upon arriving at the temple Hiei was mildly annoyed to find the old woman waiting for him on the shiny wooden deck that had a nice view of Genkai's training area and the woods beyond it.

"Took ya long enough. How was your date?" Genkai smirked.

"Shouldn't old ladies be sowing and taking care of their grandchildren?" Hiei smoothly shot back in the same condescending tone Genkai used with him.

"Apparently not this one. I have something I need you to do, though." She got right down to the point, so Hiei shrugged, open-minded so long as her request wasn't too much of a hassle.

"Hn."

"All right. My apprentice is dead asleep. She's exhausted; nearly fell asleep in the hot spring, according to Yukina and Miri. I need you to attack her in her sleep. I know you've been memorizing the basic movements to 'Water' so you tell me if she's got them down to muscle memory." She explained.

"Hn. So your bones are too old and can't handle the task themselves." He smirked, only to receive a quiet, accepting smirk in return.

"It's done." With that he disappeared. Genkai was easy to banter with. At least she insulted him and could communicate with him in a way he felt comfortable. Kurama usually waited for the opportune moment to hit him with a clever remark. That was boring, in Hiei's opinion. Kuwabara's insults never seemed to strike home, as the human was too gentle to come up with anything biting, thus Genkai and Yusuke were his favorites to speak with. They weren't sensitive in the least.

"Hn… let's see what _you've _got… detective girl…" Hiei murmured to himself as he arrived just in front of her sleeping form. How would she react? If he hit her the hardest he could… what would she say to him? If she woke up and dodged his attack what would she think of him? These next few moment would be interesting to say the least…

-X-

_Slowly, sensually, Youko kissed her, from her collar bone to her cheek, to her neck, leaving an ache in her core that she would not be able to condone for long. As his kisses gently feathered up her cheek and to her lips, silver hair was suddenly replaced with fiery red, and the large body next to her became the size of an average human man… an average human man that she was very… __**very **__familiar with. She didn't think it was possible, but she suddenly felt hotter than just a second ago… _

_Blue met green with a shocked feminine gasp and a responding, knowing smirk. God Kurama was sexy when he smirked… _

"_He's not the only one that enjoys this…" His familiar voice nearly purred in a combination of the two men she so deeply loved. Were they… merging? Becoming one person? _

"_W-what?" What was going on? Wait… Enjoying what, exactly? _

_She looked down and noticed his shirt was missing and the beautiful muscles of his upper body were visible to her in the moonlight. Her eyes traversed the length of his torso, following the tiny trail of vibrant red hairs that spanned from just beneath his wickedly muscled chest, down…. down… down… to… Oh lord…. He wasn't covered beneath that cream-colored sheet… _

_**Oh my god… he has the "v" muscle just above his… um… "area"…. **_

_Somewhere in her mind she knew she wasn't clothed either and she felt herself blush more if possible. _

_Suddenly the panic signals went off in her mind._

_What the hell were they doing together? _

_Why were they naked? _

_She wasn't supposed to be naked! _

-X-

Trisha awoke with a gasp. Something was wrong! Instinctually she directed a fist out of her way with some movement that seemed to just come to her, naturally. The offending appendage crashed into the wooden headboard behind her. Shaky with adrenaline, she rolled off of the bed and yanked the lamp next to the broken bed out of the wall. It was glass and heavy, but would be useful if thrown, even she just used it as a distraction... None of this thought process clearly registered in her mind as her panicked eyes landed on the intruder that had attacked her. It was a dark shadowed form.

A short man in a cloak.

A whole minute of staring must have passed by.

Suddenly suspicious that he wasn't really making any moves to kill her, she narrowed her eyes and lowered the lamp to the ground. His energy was obviously demon, but it was not roiling with the intent to kill.

"_So what the hell is he doing here?" _

The moonlight coming through the window revealed large, familiar, ruby gems that seemed more curious and surprised than harmful.

… … … Where had she seen those eyes before?

"Hn. The old hag _actually _taught you something." He commented dryly, more to himself than her. His voice registered in her mind and she remembered where she had heard him before.

"_Hn. Baka Onna. I found you." _

"You!" She accused with venom and sudden anger. "_You_ were the one that knocked me out that day!" She snapped an aggravated index finger in his direction and like the jerk she knew he was, he smirked. Why did guys always have to _smirk_?

"So what if I am? What can you do about it, human?" He challenged, practically turning his nose up at her.

Rage. Blind rage was her response.

Why? She didn't know. Maybe it was because he insulted her. Maybe it was because he so clearly carried himself as if he were better than her in every way. Maybe she was just sleepy and cranky because he interrupted her rest. Maybe it was because he broke her bed. Maybe it was for petty, childish revenge for knocking her out that day. Maybe it was a combination of _everything_. Regardless, this guy was going to get his face pounded in. She had had enough.

"No. Way. MIDGET!" She bit out and launched herself at him, hands spread outwards like claws. Just when her fingertips brushed the fabric across his chest she smirked, thinking she had him. But just as quickly as she felt triumphant, she suddenly felt doomed as her face continued on its trajectory towards the wooden floor.

… How had she literally crashed _through_ him?

It was her last thought before…

WHAM!

Her chin connected with the floor with a loud thud.

_Ouuuuuch…. That's going to bruise…. For real…. _

She hissed in pain and clambered to her feet, looking left and right for the man.

"Where the hell—

"Behind you, baka detective woman."

She spun around with a glare.

_It was speed. _He was blinding, _inhumanly _fast!

It didn't matter. He was still angering her further. How dare he call her an idiot!?

"Who are you to call me stupid! You don't even know me! You look like some hypocritical _kid_ who would hate those who judge, yet you judge people yourself!" She snapped. "I don't even know your name." She randomly grumbled towards the end, as she peered towards her broken bed. She had the right to know the name of the person she was upset with at least, right?

She rubbed her eyes with a shaky hand. The adrenaline was just ebbing away from her veins and her heart rate was just beginning to decelerate. The high of the situation was falling and she felt her rational mind kick in and calm her down. Being angry was only going to make her hurt herself.

"Hn. Hiei." He spoke with a smirk and just like that he vanished without another explanation.

"Hey! You broke my bed!" She ran to her now open window and screamed out into the night.

"HIEI! YOU JERK!" She shouted once more, this time using his name.

-X-

"Well?" There had been several minutes of silence on the porch between Hiei and Genkai as the two waited for Trisha to return to slumber. It was now safe to speak and Genkai was curious as to how her student fared during her small test.

"She deflected it." Was the quiet, professional response.

"I thought so. She's ready for the spirit energy training, then, and maybe some more advanced martial arts." Genkai commented more to herself than Hiei.

"Hn. I don't care."

Hiei turned to walk away, but Genkai's voice stopped him.

"Liar. If you didn't care you wouldn't be here, or be so curious about her progress; idiot demon. You should try being the nice guy you really are; it wouldn't hurt y'know… even _if _it doesn't fit the front you so carefully constructed these years."

"Hn." Her words were wise, but he would ignore them for now.

And with that last syllable he was gone again. Tomorrow— or really whenever he felt like it— he would go to the spirit world and tell Koenma the girl had earned a dismal amount of his respect… _dismal _at _best_ and that _maybe _he would allow her along on his cases. _Maybe_.

…

…

…

But most likely not.

-X-

Lol I love Hiei and his casual doucehbaggery. Who doesn't?

ANSWERS!

The sexiest guy?

Hmmmmmmmmm

It's a close call between Kurama and Uchiha Itachi from Naruto.

Both guys are sexy and kind and smart and just muscular and mm! Just deliciously sexy all around. But here is why KURAMA would win: *whispers* He wouldn't kill his lover for his little brother. No way in hell—in no world—would he ever do that. Itachi has a sexy personality BUT he DID kill his girlfriend… and the rest of his kinsmen… that's a no-no in my book. So yeah. Our coveted Shuichi Minamino wins this round. Definitely.

QUESTIONS!

What will you do this summer? Vacation? Vegitation? Exercise?

Who was your first anime crush? Be honest, even if it's embarrassing. Mine was cheesy too and it shall be revealed.

I don't own YYH. All rights reserved.

See ya Later Space Cowboy!


	23. Chu

WEEDS CAN TURN INTO FLOWERS

|23|

-X-

"Meditation. That is the key to mastering your spirit energy. I'm going to show you a pattern with my spirit energy. You have a day to copy it; and by a day I mean while the sun is out. When it sets at 8:00 tonight we're going to spar regardless if you've mastered the pattern or not." Genkai explained, her tone mildly harsh due to their lack of time.

Trisha was dressed comfortably in grey sweatpants that gathered at her calf, a black tank top and high-top red and black Nike's: perfect meditation clothes. Obediently, she plopped down under the tree and held her palms out. If Genkai was going to show her a pattern with her spirit energy, Trisha would have to feel the pattern as well as see it in her mind. Smiling, the old woman sat across from her and placed her hands atop the younger woman's. Trisha focused on Genkai's palms while keeping her eyes closed.

"Ready?"

She nodded.

The old woman flared her energy almost sky-high three times, then lowered it once every two seconds. Each time she lowered it, her energy fizzled until it was completely hidden. Trisha was astonished. That was amazing control! It would take a lot of time for her to get to that level!

"Now meditate, focus on your own energy and try to do with it what I did." She commanded and crossed her arms across her chest. Trisha took a deep breath… this was going to take a while…

-X-

An entire three hours later, she had managed to flare her energy three times, as high as it would go. It was nowhere near as great as the beast that Genkai's spirit energy was, but it would do for now.

"That's enough. Take a break and eat." At the gentle command, she opened her eyes and obediently went to the kitchen to munch on something healthy. It would not do to be hungry and out of energy during training.

A half hour of slow-eating and drinking plenty of water later, she was back outside in the sunshine under the tree where Genkai was waiting for her.

"This time try the second half of my pattern."

A nod was all the response the old woman received as her student sat back down and got to work.

-X-

It took her a half hour to get her energy down a step and keep it there for two seconds, but Genkai was satisfied and told her to see how far she could get in the pattern.

She managed one more "notch" before her energy completely failed her and shrunk back within her body. Once finished, she was exhausted and slumped backwards. She was silently grateful for the tree trunk behind her, as it steadied her and helped her spinning head feel minutely grounded.

"Ouch. That sucked." She groaned, eyes closed.

A small, short laugh escaped her teacher.

"Don't be a stupid kid. You did better than I expected you to. Energy control comes easier to females than males. I think it has something to do with patience. That's why women usually become healers." Genkai commented.

The conversation piqued Trisha's curiosity and her eyes flew open.

"So it takes a considerably _controlled _male to become a healer." She concluded, though her tone was uncertain and seemingly seeking verification.

"Generally. Of course this doesn't apply to everyone; there are freaks of nature even in a world of freaks, so don't be surprised if you come across a child or an opponent that's immensely powerful _and _can heal himself as well." Genkai warned.

Trisha logged the information in her brain as she wondered how or when Youko managed to become a healer, as well as a skilled fighter. Also, the tidbit told her that Kurama must have been extremely talented to be able to hone his energy and accomplish nearly the same feats the Youko within him did, whilst only being human.

Amazing. Truly amazing.

She would have to work harder.

After taking a deep breath, she tried again, and only failed after reaching the third notch. The lower she got, the harder to control the energy became. It could be explained as a traveler traveling a road over a large, deep valley. The wider the road, the easier it was to walk upon it; the narrower, the easier it was to lose balance and fall.

She opened her eyes, despite her dizziness and glared at the sun. Time was of the essense…

_Work faster…._

-X-

Over and over and over she tried and tried and tried until finally, she was able to reach the last notch. After repeating the pattern successfully, albeit blearily, Genkai clapped and congratulated her.

"Well done." The old woman spoke, just as the sun dipped below the horizon, drenching the sky in black. A satisfied smile is all the tired girl gave her as a response.

"I have a few sparring partners for you to meet, now that you're done. They should be arriving shortly."

As if on cue, just as she finished speaking, Trisha felt a wild energy- a portal, she recognized- just to their right within the trees. The sound of rushing wind and electricity could be heard amongst several voices.

"Oh, I think we've arrived." An accented voice spoke as the male owner hiccupped. The words were slightly slurred, as if the person was drunk.

"Cool! We haven't been here in so long!" A pubescent voice excitedly spoke. It squeaked in some spots so Trisha assumed this person was younger.

"Oh God this human _stench_ is repulsive, it's going to give my beautiful face _wrinkles_." Whined another masculine tone.

"Maybe if you stopped whining you'd have more fans, like I do." A smooth tone sniped accurately.

"Well said, Shishi, I agree." Another male responded. His voice sounded confident. Without even looking at him Trisha knew he walked with straight shoulders.

"Oi! Whatwerewedoinovarhereagain? Trainin' some li'le girlieright?" She barely caught the sentence of this man. He sounded happy, but powerful.

Simultaneously, six men stepped out of the portal that slowly closed behind them. One man was dressed in a rock-star-ish outfit and had a blue Mohawk. He was holding a bottle of what looked like rum. He was tanned and blushed when his eyes met hers.

" 'Ello there master Genkai. Who's the lovely Shiela?" He asked politely, even though he seemed to be eyeing Trisha like a piece of meat. Paranoid, she slightly turned the front of her body away from his full view.

The teenaged-looking boy beside him had messy, short brown hair and big teal eyes. He seemed to be the same age as Trisha, although his energy was demon, so he was probably in reality around thirty or so. Honestly, she wouldn't be surprised if he was. He had three yellow stars tattooed beneath his left eye and was dressed in a bright red t-shirt, blue jeans and what looked like black Converse shoes. He grinned from ear-to-ear at Genkai as he played with a star-decorated yellow yo-yo.

"Hey master Genkai! What's up?" He greeted, flashing her a peace sign with his other hand.

"Chu, Rinku. It's good to see you two again." Genkai greeted.

"Hmph. Won't say hello to us?" Snobbishly queried the blue-hared man in a samurai get-up next to the brown-haired boy. A very long, but beautiful sword spanned the width of his back, sticking out at both sides. Trisha could see the cherry blossoms painted into the lacquered wood of the sheath. The pink of the flowers nearly matched the violet of his eyes. He was beautiful, but something about his demeanor irked her. He was a pretty boy and because of that, she could tell he treated himself like a king.

"I may be vain but at least I'm not sensitive. Are you still not over the fact that master Genkai is old?" Asked a blonde man with light eyes. His hair was short and spiky and he was dressed in black fighting pants that gathered at his calves, a white fighting shirt that exposed his toned arms, and a blue sash around his waist that held the pants up and the shirt tucked into them. His shoes matched his sash; they were blue.

Interesting. He seemed very beauty-obsessed for a man, but Trisha's intuition told her he had been put in his place and knew what it felt like to eat a slice of the "humility" cake, so she decided that she respected him.

"Shut up! That has nothing to do with it!" The blue-haired samurai-demon shot back, balling his fist. The blonde man merely smirked in satisfaction and turned up his nose. One chuckle from Genkai silenced their argument and Trisha's eyes fell upon the last two men.

One had short, blue hair with sea-green bangs and ice, _ice_-blue eyes. He was dressed in a comfortable-looking blue-grey-white/sea-foam-green ninja looking outfit that seemed to leave his toes exposed for whatever reason. He was the confident one. He quietly smiled and bowed to Genkai as politely as possible.

"Master Genkai." He addressed. Everything about him reminded her of Kurama and she wondered if the two knew each other.

"Greetin's Genkai! I wonder if I can fly around here! D'yathinkthaaero-planesinthisplacewillmind?" The last man was the most powerful. Trisha could feel the rawness of his energy practically swirling beneath his skin. He had spiky, discheveled, absolutely _crazy_ red hair, an infectious smile, tanned skin, elf ears, clear blue eyes and a cute little horn atop his head. He was dressed in white and his body was deliciously built, from what Trisha could see. She could _barely _understand the man, but he was attractive to her anyway. He was powerful, but playful.

_Like Naruto_. She giggled in her mind.

"Jin if you're spotted in the sky they might involve the government. I don't think you'd want that." Genkai explained. "Stick to anything that's below 35,000 feet and I think we'll be fine." The old woman smiled. Jin's ears twitched and he laughed.

"Alri-ty then is this the littlegirlie you wan'us to teach?" He asked pointing at Trisha. Six heads, including Genkai's turned to her and she blushed. Wait. Since when was the spotlight on her? Genkai slowly, but purposefully walked to stand next to her and she was grateful for the older woman's presence.

"Trisha, these are former students of mine. I only spent a short amount of time with them but they grew on me like a fungus." She chuckled to herself and some of the boys laughed, while the others frowned. The Mohawked guy took a drink and grinned at Trisha when her eyes picked up the action.

_Is he… is he a pervert? _She wondered, and suddenly felt the vine Kurama had given her slither around in her hair. By this point she was used to the object. Anytime she was in danger it would _twitch_ like a living thing. It wedged itself underneath her hair-tie and slithered down the long tail of hair down her back.

_Taking a backseat on this one, Vine-kun? _She mentally spoke to it, even though it couldn't hear her. She was surprised at herself for giving it a name, but at this point, who really wouldn't? It was like a pet that lived in her hair…

Sometimes she wondered if that was why some people kept lice and fleas in their hair. She quickly shuddered at the thought.

_This is nothing like that! _

"The big one on the far left is Chu. His fighting style utilizes drinking. But he likes to drink outside of the ring as well. The runt next to him is Rinku."

"Hey! I'm no runt! Give me two weeks and the puberty will be over! Jeez! Gimme a break!" The boy shouted back, blushing in embarrassment.

"He likes to use yo-yo's to fight. It looks like fun, but don't be fooled. He's dangerous." Genkai spoke over him. "Next to him is Shishiwakamaru."

"Shishi-waka-who?" Trisha spoke back, covering her mouth quickly as she realized she had blurted that thought out. "S-sorry…" She blushed and apologized to "samurai-man" as she had dubbed him.

"Shishiwakamaru. But we call him Shishi. It's easier. He's a swordsman, much like Hiei, though I don't quite think he's at Hiei's level yet."

Shishi turned up his nose as he 'hmph'ed and Trisha glared in his direction.

_What a drama queen… _

"Next to him is— Genkai comically cleared her throat and the blonde man smiled pleasantly— "_The Beautiful _Suzuka." She introduced. Trisha could tell she was being sarcastic and she assumed Suzuka knew as well, but he didn't seem to mind.

"Yes, that's me. _Always_ call me 'beautiful' before you say my name." The man spoke directly to her. She kept her mouth shut and smirked back instead.

_I'm not making any promises, dude… _

"The one in the blue is Touya, an ice master."

"Like Yukina?" She shot back curiously?

"No. Absolutely not. Think of Kurama, but with ice instead of plants. His mastery of his element is equal to Yusuke's mastery of his spirit energy or Kurama's mastery of his plants." She explained.

"Oh…"

_So why doesn't Yukina ask this guy for help if she wants to go to demon world to look for her brother? _

"The happy one next to him is Jin. He's a master of wind. That's how he's floating right now. He's the most dangerous of them all. Naturally, I will have you fight each one of them from weakest to strongest until you defeat them all. They have the ability to be much more brutal than I do, so I suggest you be very careful."

Trisha's jaw dropped.

"W-w-w-w-whaaaat!" She stuttered, dumb-founded.

There was six of them. If she wanted to be done by summer's end, she would have to fight them and best them one by one, week by week! That was impossible! The men in front of her were, to say the least, _monsters_! Their spirit energy is what went "bump" in the night to the things that went "bump" in the night!

"Don't stand there and gape. Introduce yourself. Give them the same respect you give me, as they will be teaching you things you just can't learn in a safe environment." Genkai chastised.

She thought she wasn't going to be tortured.

She thought this would go slow.

She thought she could keep up.

… … … _God… … … if you're up there and listening… … … please help me… … …_

She shakily bowed, her ponytail falling forward, and then lifted from the respectful position.

"M-My name is Trisha… It's nice to meet you all…" She spoke, embarrassed. As soon as she was standing straight, Chu was in her face, holding her hands to his broad chest.

"Marry me, Sheila." He declared, the smell of booze hitting her nose as he spoke.

She gaped. And blushed from embarrassment.

_What?_

He was blushing so madly his skin was practically steaming!

_Ew. No way. He smells like booze and looks like he belong in some biker bar… no way! _

"Um…. … … … No." She firmly rejected and tried to take her hands back, but she couldn't. He was just too strong. She would have to start wearing and lifting weights if she wanted to best these guys.

"Ow! Ow! 'Mate that hurts!" He suddenly screamed, and she could feel Rinku's energy skyrocket as he angrily pinched Chu by his ear, twisted the unoffending body part, and dragged him away from her. Chu's grip immediately loosened and she was grateful to have her space back as his hands let go of hers.

"Jeez, what a cheeseball. You can't behave for one _second_. What were we thinking? Allowing you to come help train a _girl_ was the dumbest idea _ever_…" Rinku grumbled as he and Chu moved further and further away. Trisha giggled at the behavior. They were like brothers.

" 'Sorry'boutthat,Miss! Chu'sgothiswanginhisbrainwhereitshouldn'treallybe! Hope ya can understand, yeah?" Jin's grinning, _floating_ face was in hers not even a second later. She laughed nervously.

"Yeah… it's fine…" She didn't catch the middle of his sentence, but condoned the marriage proposal anyway.

_It certainly wouldn't be the first time a demon tried to ask me to marry him… _

She blushed as she remembered Youko asking her to mate with him for life.

Jin flashed her another winning grin and flew back over to Touya.

"You'll start by fighting me, because I don't really like to put my face in danger." Suzuka boredly spoke.

"Hmph, just admit you're the weakest." Shishi sniped quietly and Trisha glared.

"Screw that I'll fight the jerk in samurai gear first." She snapped, pointing a finger at Shishi. "Your attitude makes me sick." She spoke with as much venom as she could muster.

The man smirked.

"Oh? I was hoping you'd come to that conclusion." He almost purred in satisfaction. She glared at him further.

_Is his disgusting attitude an act? Was he bullying others just to piss me off on purpose? Or is he just covering for himself because he knows he's a jerk? _

"Shishi. I think that's enough." Touya reasoned calmly, though like a true demon, he didn't really seem to care about what would happen next.

"No, no. I'm curious now. You speak so boldly, despite being a human _woman_. I'd like to see if you can back up those venomous words. I don't appreciate being insulted you know…"

"Yeah, others don't appreciate being insulted either! Take back what you said to Suzuka and maybe I'll be a bit nicer." She crossed her arms, hoping she wouldn't have to fight this man. He was powerful and armed with a wicked katana to boot.

"Easy now, that's how Shishi and I work. I appreciate it, but trust me you don't have to fight to defend my honor." Suzuka chuckled. Trisha gave him a confused look.

"I guess pretty boy piss 'er off, ey Rinku?" Chu grinned and chugged more of his booze.

"It's about time." The younger male responded.

"I don't like rotten attitudes." She quietly corrected and all forms of laughter amongst the group of six men died.

Chu was surprised, Rinku was embarrassed that he had assumed wrong, Suzuka was smiling and Shishi looked bored. Jin looked uncomfortable with the tension and Touya studied her as intently as Genkai did.

_Crap! What do I do now! I can't be an idiot and just run away now…. _

She took up the opening stance of Water. Her left foot was back, her right foot was forward, her knees were slightly bent and her back was straight, but relaxed. Her left arm was lightly resting against the curve of her body, her palm facing up, fingers slack. Her right arm was held out, also lax, her palm forward in a "stop" gesture with loose, partially curled fingers.

"Hmph." That weak stance will get you nowhere, human. I can assure you." Shishi sneered and stepped forward. Trisha tried not to panic. His spirit energy was immense. It was nowhere near Kurama's controlled, calm power, where she felt safe. It was… deadly. He unsheathed his sword and Genkai jumped back, as did the other six fighters. At that point she assume she would be sparring with Shishi tonight.

_I don't know how to block a sword…. _She mentally groaned. _My butt is going to get handed to me… _

"_Don't watch the blade." _

Her eyes widened. _WHY _was Hiei's voice in her head!?

"_Stop panicking you're embarrassing yourself. __**Don't watch the blade.**__" _

Maybe Hiei was a telepath? She took her eyes off of the blade and focused on Shishi's eyes and his ugly smirking face.

_What a jerk…._

"_Hn. You can be beautiful, but the moment you open your mouth with arrogance you become as ugly as sin." _

_Hiei… it's cool that you're a telepath and all… but I need you out of my head to focus…. Please? _

There was dead silence in her mind after that last thought.

Shishi launched smoothly from his position. She could not see him until he was inches away from her body. She dared not close her eyes for fear of missing any crucial movements. His sword was above her, ready to cut her in two. The opening position to Water was the river kata, in which powerful attacks were supposed to just flow past the person being attacked. It was a defensive position.

She would swear up and down from that day forth that she _heard _the sword and felt its energy swipe downwards. It was what helped her smoothly spin around and step to the right. Three hundred and sixty degrees later, she was in the same position, but now a few inches to her right, directly to the side of Shishi's sword.

She did not know how to follow up with that move. She did not know how to attack.

So she waited and watched his eyes, his body and how he moved instead.

He was fast. Much faster than she.

After he recovered from his surprise, he swung from his position directly upwards and to the side. She bent backwards and back flipped gracefully out of the way. At that point her eyes became attuned to his energy and she could see it; It was as violent as it was violet. The purple hue raged around his body. She could taste his emotions off of it. He was angry with her and it made her afraid. It shifted slightly downwards and a split second later he swiped downwards at her again, this time directly down her center. She back flipped with the koi position yet again and managed to avoid his blade but just barely yet again.

"Why." He bit out through gritted teeth as he swung again.

"Can't."

He swung again and she dodged yet again.

"I."

Swing. Dodge.

"Hit."

Swing. Dodge.

"You."

Swing. Dodge.

"No matter…"

Swing. Dodge. She felt the air from the force he used fly off of the tip of his blade and dust her cheeks where it would have cut had she not moved out of the way.

"How fast…"

Swing. Dodge.

"I MOVE!"

She saw his aura shift upwards and to her left, AKA his right. She danced out of the way gracefully with the beta form she had learned not too long ago.

"RRRAAAAGGHHHHRHHH!" Now he was agitated. His aura grew so rapidly she could not read it. It was her end. She saw his blade but not where it as coming from or which direction it would strike her in.

She would die because she was too slow.

She counted every beat of her heart.

One.

Two.

Three…

Death?

SCHINK! !

Wrong.

She had shut her eyes so she could only hear the fact that Shishi's sword had been stopped by some other metal objecy. Immediately she opened her eyes and was shocked to find Hiei standing there, his tiny form shielding her from Shishi's lengthy sword.

Where Shishi's sword was long and slender, Hiei's was a bit shorter, but looked much more dangerous. Regardless, Trisha was confused. Why was Hiei standing there protecting her? Where was his cloak, too?

"You must feel pathetic; losing to The Spirit Wave and the Water style; both techniques created by the _human _woman who bested you in the Dark Tournament…" It was the most she had heard him talk and of course it was to insult someone.

"H-H-Hiei!" She finally recovered.

"Consider this a debt repaid. I'd be angry if someone broke my favorite tree." He explained.

His favorite tree? Did Hiei sleep in trees? If so … … … why?

With that he pushed Shishi away from himself and Trisha and then sheathed his sword.

"Oh, and you've been slacking, Shishi. Your swordsmanship hasn't gotten better since we last sparred." He casually insulted the blue-haired man that had nearly killed her. Of course before the other swordsman could respond, Hiei was gone.

Trisha was in shock.

What just happened?

Shishi looked mad.

Jin and Rinku's mad laughter diffused the situation and she suddenly felt very jittery from the adrenaline and fear of almost dying… _again._ A cold hand fell atop her shoulder and she snapped her head to its owner.

Touya was smiling calmly.

"You did well. It's not often someone weaker than him gets to make a statement that he has to listen to." He complemented.

"O-Oh… Well yeah…" She mumbled in response.

_About that… _

"If I ever see you bully around and insult people again, I swear when the time comes for me to fight you I'll mess up your stupid face!" She shouted angrily at Shishi, who only just recovered from his shock and anger. She prayed that her voice didn't shake or sound as scared as she actually was. Having Touya's hand on her shoulder grounded her and made her feel safe, however. Maybe that's why she could temporarily ignore the fact that Shishi was more than capable of killing her where she stood.

He narrowed his eyes at her and she tried not to flinch. Trying so hard only made her shake more.

"We'll have a rematch. You can shout all you want then." Was all he stated as he quietly sheathed his sword and walked inside the temple, never once stopping to look back.

"Oolookatya! Yershakin'likealeafinthewind!" Jin laughed as he clapped her across the back.

She flew a step forward and fell into Suzuka who caught her.

"Don't worry, it's good to have someone dislike you in a healthy, competitive way. It shows that you're a possible threat." The blonde smiled at her, though she didn't really feel reassured. Actually, she felt like a huge timer had been placed on her life… She only had so much time to live before she faced that guy again…

"Wow I've never seen Shishi so embarrassed. I think he likes you!" Rinku stated in a slightly deeper tone of voice. Maybe he was starting to get the fact that speaking in a deeper tone will make his voice squeak less? The brown-haired boy was sticking his tongue out and grinning from ear to ear.

"Wow… now thass a _real _Sheila." Chu hiccupped, now completely drunk, as his bottle was almost empty; at least it _sounded _almost empty when he went to take a swig of it.

Genkai came over chuckling.

"Tomorrow we'll split your time between learning the basics of Fire style and mastering your control over your spirit energy." The old woman spoke.

"I…I survived?" Was all she could respond with.

Nearly all of them burst out into laughter.

"Ilikethisone,Genkai! She's as entertainin' as Urameshi!" Jin clapped her back again and she shakily fell forward into Suzuka one more time.

_Thanks Hiei…. If you can hear me. _

She didn't know if the telepathic connection worked both ways, but she hoped her message reached the short demon. He had really saved her life.

-X-

"_Thanks Hiei…. If you can hear me."_

"Hn." Hiei smirked in satisfaction. Was she a fool? Of course he could hear her. Stupid humans…

-X-

I think this chapter is appropriately titled "Chu" because, well… Chu. Lol. Classic pervert. Oh boy.

ANSWERS!  
-Drum Roll-

.. ….. …

… … ….

My first anime crush waaaas….

…

…

..

…

GOKU.

Yep. My cheeks are red. But yes. Goku. Older Goku in his super Saiyan 1 form. *shrug* Idk don't ask me.

I'm probably going to work all summer in various different ways.

QUESTIONS!

Who likes teen Rinku!? I promise in two weeks his voice will stop squeaking!

Shishi's such a drama queen as usual.

Did I get the character's attitudes right? Let me know!

ALSO

If someone just broke into your house to kill you, what would you do?

Do you have a plan of attack or escape?

Idk random question. I contemplate things like that all the time lol.

HIT ME UP WITH REVIEWS, LOVES!

I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho. All rights reserved!

See ya later Space Cowboy!


	24. Sniper

WEEDS CAN TURN INTO FLOWERS

|24|

OH. MY. GOD. I'm finally back! I've been running back and forth EVERY week from work, to my house to sleep, then to the dentist on my days off; it's like I couldn't get a single damn day to write this next chapter! Ugh! Anyway; here is the next chapter!

*IMPORTANT!: Hiei is not to be viewed as a romantic interest for the main character! Perhaps I worded it incorrectly, and I apologize for that; but in the last chapter he meant to insult Shishiwakamaru; saying that handsome/beautiful people are only beautiful until they open their mouths and have a bad attitude that comes out! You know how you think someone is so gorgeous, but suddenly you realize they're a total jerk and you find little things here and there that make the person physically unattractive to you as a result? That's what he was talking about. He meant to say that Shishi is handsome until he opens his mouth. Then his physical attractiveness is stunted by his horrible attitude. I'm really sorry about that confusion!

-X-

"AGAIN!" The harsh command came quickly from Genkai and Trisha launched at Suzuka. Just before she reached him she ducked to the side and instead of punching him, she kicked him in his side as hard as possible.

"WRONG!" Came the assessment of her move. "Fire is all about _power! _You have to apply that power in the right places! You'll never be able to interchange between the two styles if you don't understand them separately! Get out of your "water" mentality and go KICK SOME ASS!"

Ouch. That was some harsh language…

"You know, you should probably hurry up and just get mad… her shouting is getting annoying…" Suzuka yawned as he rubbed his sore side. "Oh and you should hit harder too…" He commented absently.

She glared at him. Was she really that ineffective?

"AM I THE OLD ONE HERE OR ARE YOU!? IS YOUR HEARING GOING BAD!?"

She felt like crying. She couldn't get angry! There was no logical reason to!

"I…I don't want to hurt my friend!" She shouted back as she whirled around to face Genkai. Her ponytail brushed against her shoulder and the vine in her hair slithered up and rubbed her neck, as if in reassurance.

Genkai's response to her plea was a menacing glare.

How on earth could the woman go from being so relaxed and sweet… to acting like a total and complete _drill sergeant_?

"Turn around and _fight_. If Yukina was in danger and Suzuka was the one who held her life in his hands, you would have to fight him at your absolute _best!_"

_But… that's not the situation… _

Gloomily, she turned around and faced the blonde demon who now looked like he felt bad for her.

"If it's any consolation I can take a beating and heal quickly from it…" He offered lamely. She frowned at him, her eyes filling with water.

"That's not the point… I just can't…" She weakly replied. "You're innocent here…"

She unclenched her fists and let her shoulders droop.

"What the HELL are you doing!?"

"Something that won't hurt my friends!" She shouted back in a frustrated tone.

"Walking away from this experience will hurt your friends in the future! You'll be too weak to fight and you'll die! Yusuke, Hiei, Kurama, Rinku, Touya… God forbid you're _ever_ put on a mission with them because knowing the fire katas will not save you against a violent four-hundred-kilogram, S-class demon! You'll get yourself killed and put your designated mission partner at risk!" She shouted.

Trisha stopped and balled her fists.

_Crap. … … … … __**Crap**__… … … She's right… _

She didn't have time to respond, as a teen-aged version of baby Koenma popped up out of nowhere in front of her. For half a second, her eyes widened in shock and suddenly she felt his hands on her shoulders.

"You _have_totakethistoademonnamedYomi! HehasterritoryonNorthernsideofthirdplaneofdemonwor ld!"

"Wh-what?" He spoke too fast!

"It's a virus damnit! Take it and run!" He insisted.

He then took her hand, slammed a small vial of purple liquid into her palm, curled her fingers around it manually and clapped his hands together. She felt an immense, pure power come forth from him and open up a portal directly to her left. He snapped his fingers and a backpack just _appeared_. He shoved it at her chest and shoved her through the portal in a _very _un-princely manner, just as she witnessed a few humans in crisp black suits burst forth through some bushes not twenty feet from where she was standing. Just as she was floating too far into the wormhole, she heard Genkai's voice.

"EVERY DEMON TO THE TRAINING AREA! NOW!" She shouted as if she commanded some sort of army.

Everything else was muffled after that and confused, she continued traveling.

_Wait… What? I don't get what's going on…? This is a virus and there's humans after it? _

That was all she could gather from her encounter with Koenma, as brief as it was. Why was he in teen-form? How was that even possible? Whatever. She curiously studied the vial in her hand. It seemed harmless but she knew better than to trust it.

_What's in the backpack? _

She felt a vibrating coming from the side pocket of the pack and unzipped the zipper. A rectangular cell phone was in it. She could tell it was a spirit world object because it emanated pure energy. She slid her finger across the glass screen and Koenma's face popped up on it instantly. He was hiding behind a fallen log and she could see fire in the background. 

What the hell was happening at Genkai's temple!? 

"Listen to me and listen carefully. This portal will take you to a village at the base of a mountain. It will take 'Phoenix' some time to reach you there so while you're traveling to the gate on top of the mountain I'll have time to explain who they are. There are a couple of top secret organizations in the human world. One of them is Phoenix and the other is The Black Order. The Black Order knows us as "Spirit" though they don't know exactly what we do. I have a few people who work with Black and work for us. These people track down viruses from terrorist organizations. They usually deliver them to us and I send a detective to deliver it to a demon called Yomi. He was the former King of a vast territory there. He seals dangerous artifacts away for us, because… well, that's a whole other story that I won't get into right now. Anyway, in the backpack are a few weapons- guns, knives and whatever. Try not to use your spirit energy to fight because these humans don't yet know about the supernatural. Anyway, get to the gate and huff it to Yomi's! There's a map and a change of clothes among other things you need in that backpa—WHOA!

Fzzzzzzzzzzt!

And the connection was gone just as Koenma seemed to get caught in the crossfire of something. Right at that moment she exited a portal and found herself on the outskirts of a village with huts made out of what looked like hay or dried plant leaves of some sort.

_Where the hell is this? The Amazon? _

It certainly felt like it. The air was humid and she could hear exotic bird calls. The village was not very large; it seemed to be circular and maybe two hundred feet or so wide. She could see a jungle growing atop a large incline that she assumed was the mountain she would have to climb. It was sunset here and insects were starting to make noise. Regardless of the sun setting, she was still hot in her grey calf-length sweats and cerulean tank top. She would need some serious boots to travel through that jungle. Her Nikes would not do. She prayed Koenma packed her some serious bug spray or some kind of anti-malaria shot or something... God only knew what secluded part of the world she was in right now…

She decided to go around the village, as to not disrupt the people living there. She could hear the sounds of parents scolding their children and the children's laughter in some strange language and she figured it would just be better to stay out of the way.

After trekking as stealthily as possible for about four minutes she came upon a bored-looking man on an all-black motorcycle. He was looking at a black phone and looked up at her as she approached him. Something passed through his violet eyes, something like mistaken recognition before his face became neutral again. His hair was short and dark and he was dressed in an expensive-looking black t-shirt, black jeans, a gunmetal grey Kevlar vest and some kind of black boots she could not distinguish the brand of. Two twin .45 caliber guns were nestled in grey holsters at his sides. She tensed immediately, wishing she had changed and grabbed the weapons from the pack first.

_Stupid Trisha… now you're going to die…._

"Are you the new spirit detective?" He queried in a bored, but deep tone. He looked like he felt he could be spending his time in a better way. Really, all he was missing was a cigarette and his "nonchalant cool dude" persona would be complete. Regardless she almost cried tears of relief. He must be one of those people who worked for both The Black Order and Spirit World!

"Um… yeah I guess… who are you?" She responded in a relieved but still weary tone.

"My alias is 'Sniper'. I'm a double agent. I work for Spirit World and The Black Order." He responded, bored-sounding as ever. Still… he said what she needed to hear.

"Oh. So I'm guessing you're going to come with me to the gate to get this virus sealed?" She asked and he nodded in a manner that seemed to ooze _"I don't care"_.

"Mhm. You should hurry and change behind that tree. We have incoming traffic from twelve o'clock. They'll be here in ten." He went back to staring at his phone, as if their lives weren't in imminent danger. She must have stared at him for a few seconds before she absently trudged over to a tall tree and hid behind it.

Upon opening the backpack she found tight-fitting black cargo pants with many utility pockets. She changed into those first, ignoring the frazzled wriggling of the vine in her hair. She tightened the pants with a leather belt and tucked them into tall lace-up boots that were thankfully not too chunky in the heels. They were light, effective and durable. A godsend for what she was being tasked to do. She slipped on a simple black tank top over her sports bra and slipped a Kevlar vest over her head that seemed to fit just right. She found a large handgun within a holster and strapped the holster around her right leg. A combat knife was in another holster that she attached to her left arm. She dumped her clothes into the backpack amongst a water bottle, rope and some extra ammunition and tucked the phone and the vial into two separate pockets on her pants. Feeling like she was ready to fight a war, she nervously stepped out.

"Jump on and hang on. You wasted too much time. If you don't hurry up they'll hear us." He commanded, again as if he couldn't care less. She glared at him and crossed her arms.

"Let them come." She sniffed. She was tired f his attitude. She could do this by herself if he was going to be a jerk about it!

He glared at her.

FINALLY; a reaction. Where was this man's emotion?

"If you want to shoot people then stand there. I could care less. This mission has nothing to do with my main objective."

And he crossed his arms. Stubborn.

They stared at each other, one bored, the other angry.

Tick… tock….tick…..tock….tick…tock…

She felt people coming. Their spirit energies were pathetic, but she was sure this was the group "Phoenix" that was mentioned earlier. How the hell did they know to be all the way out here of all places?

"Ugh fine." She jumped on the back of his bike and he 'hmphed' in bored triumph as he started the machine and sped off. She held onto his torso and decided to question him about why they weren't wearing any helmets, when shots rang in the woods around them. He grunted and she ducked her head.

"What the hell! Already!?" She hissed. Those guys were fast!

"I told you you were slow." He gritted out, almost as if in pain. He sped up and she looked down, feeling something warm on her arm. With horror she realized that he had been hit and she had been grazed!

"Holy crap!" She hissed and ripped her tank top underneath her vest. She took the small piece of clean cloth and pressed it against his skin where the wound was. "You can't keep going like this!" She chastised him, but he ignored her, as more shots rang about them. They went around some curves on a loosely beaten path uphill.

"Sniper!" She shouted stubbornly.

"We're going to have to ditch the bike in a few minutes and huff it uphill on foot. They can't see the gate or who guards it." He explained. "We have to get there first."

"But you're freakin' bleeding to death!" She shouted back over the noise of the engine.

"That can wait." He professionally replied.

She felt useless and decided not to argue back. A few minutes later he turned, grabbed her and wrestled them both off of the bike. She watched the bike roll somewhere into the jungle before they hit the ground and rolled, hiding quickly behind a tree. She did not know what exactly was going on, until she reoriented herself and found him with one hand on his wound and the other holding one of his guns, pointing the barrel down at the ground, like an experienced gunman would in a videogame.

_I can't shoot guns… We're done-for! We'll never make it to demon world or the gate if they find us! _

The vine wriggled against her scalp, as if rubbing it to calm her down. She heard dirt bikes and voices and panicked. Sniper pressed himself against her, as if telling her not to even breathe.

"Follow the sound of the bike!" One voice shouted as it zoomed past the tree they were hiding behind.

"They can't have gotten far!" Another voice barked and Trisha wondered if they were using ear pieces and microphones to communicate.

"Hurry we have to find out what the report meant by "gate"!" An official tone snapped afterwards. They rode somewhere into the thick, jungle brush. Trisha smacked a mosquito just as it was about to bite her. At that moment Sniper turned his head towards her and glared at her. Just after he shot her his quite threatening look, the sun dipped below the sky and the jungle was bathed in darkness.

"We have to treat that wound…" She whispered, ignoring his anger at her making noise. He was growing pale at a rapid rate and she figured he was losing _a lot _of blood. Playing with demons for so long made her forget about the human dangers of the human world. Humans still went about trying to kill, rape, sicken and dismember other humans…. It was chilling.

"It'll have to wait until we get to the demon world…" He murmured back. "Stay low and stealthy. Follow me."

So that's what she did. She had no idea how he knew where he was going but eventually, they hiked all the way up the mountain with Trisha giving him a shoulder to lean on. They came upon a red gate. To the naked, human eye it just looked like two red pillars erected in a small clearing, but to the spiritually inclined it was a swirling vortex of energy. Just as they were about to run through the Gate, they were stopped by a specter— The woman was certainly neither human nor demon nor a combination of both. Her skin was chocolate and she had curly dark hair that matched her eyes. Her dress was white and billowed in a wind they could not feel against their slick, damp, mosquito-bitten skin.

"You may not pass, humans." She softly commanded with authority behind her girlish tone. She looked no older than seventeen, but the way she carried herself made her seem much older than her looks let on.

Sniper pointed his gun at her and she merely cocked an eyebrow.

"Move. Or we'll move through you." He threatened.

_Well… I guess this is a time for diplomacy… _

She put her hand on his arm and forced him to lower his gun, taking note of how minutely his muscles shook. He was getting weaker and weaker by the moment… they had to get to demon world and fast!

"Please understand," Trisha began, not really knowing where she was going with her words. "There is a virus we must deliver to be sealed in the demon world. If released upon this world it will annihilate humanity. This is something Lord Koenma has entrusted us to do!" She pleaded, not knowing if half of what she was saying was actually true. Who knew if the virus in the vial could annihilate everyone? She just assumed it could since everyone seemed so hell-bent on getting their hands on it.

"Oh? Lord Koenma? Yes he has mentioned something about an emergency. You are the duo that is to pass through… Spirit detective Everton, Trisha and double agent alias: Sniper."

Trisha nodded and Sniper remained stoic.

"Yes, please pass and hurry. I must close this gate before the others arrive."

BANG!

Trisha flinched automatically and sniper pushed her forward with a bloodied hand. She ran through the gate, calling a thank you behind to the guardian. It wasn't long before Sniper was behind her, silent as if he weren't there to begin with.

BANG! BANG!

"I see them! They're running through that clearing!" Their commander shouted.

_CRAP! _

She heard a whizzing sound and felt a sharp pain in her left shoulder. 

"AAAH!" She cried out, but continued pushing herself through the portal. Couldn't that guardian close it faster!?

"NO! You are not allowed to— AAAAhhhhhhhH!"

The specter screamed and Trisha opened her eyes through the pain, trying to see the scene back at the clearing. The humans were following them through the portal. _Wonderful_.

"Stubborn, fatherless bastards…" Sniper muttered under his breath. He removed his hand from his side and clicked a button on his gun. She had no idea what that did but it sounded dangerous. Suddenly they were through and Trisha found herself in a familiar setting.

_This looks a lot like...? _

The leafy-green huts, surrounding forest and frolicking fox-demon-children with varying shades of red hair and green eyes clued her in immediately.

_The southern fox tribe! _

But that was a bad thing, as she was about to herald much danger and trouble upon these people.

"Hmm? Human-girl? I thought I smelled you…" Came a familiar voice. Trisha whipped around and found Akaru, dressed in his usual red pants and shoes, shirtless as ever.

"Akaru! You have to warn everyone! There are humans after us! They came through the portal and!"

BANG!

WHIZZ!

"Ah!" Akaru was nicked with a round. He lifted his forearm and licked the wound that stained his pristine skin with blood.

"Now I'm pissed." He glared at the people that dropped out of the portal behind them. There was a group of seven men. Akaru protectively stood in front of Trisha. "Why is this human man bleeding all over our territory?" He asked her without looking at her. Sniper glared at him, but pointed his gun at the group of seven. Of course Akaru would rudely ask about her companion… he wouldn't be Akaru otherwise…

"He's my partner! How could you be so cold!" She chastised.

"You know this demon?" Sniper intoned, almost offended.

"Well yeah… he's a friend…"

"Give us the virus and we won't kill you." The seven were all in riot gear and had helmets that prevented her from seeing their faces. Their leader pointed his gun at her, as if he knew she was carrying it in her pocket. She flinched because he was perfectly capable of shooting her from the angle he stood at. She was worried for Akaru as well, since he was standing in front of her. Blood trickled down his skin but he didn't seem perturbed. He was more annoyed with the seven who stood in front of them.

"Hmph. You humans are idiots." He insulted and she could almost see the smirk on his face. "You're going to die here. You can't go back from where you came. You will perish in this world."

"Team! Eliminate male target with ears!" All guns were suddenly, and frighteningly pointed at Akaru.

"A-Akaru!" She called, hearing the worry in her own tone.

"Idiot." Sniper hissed and shot at the team leader.

All guns went off and Trisha squeezed her eyes shut. This was the end for her, for Sniper and for Akaru… Genkai was right… she was too weak and now her friends were going to die along with her.

"Kitsunebi!" Akaru shouted and Trisha heard a rush of wind and felt a great wave of heat, almost as if she were standing eerily close to a campfire. Upon opening her eyes, she found that Akaru had thrown a stream of fire at the bullets that exited the barrels of their enemies' guns. The metals were melted by the fire and halted by the force of the attack. Sniper seemed to notice this as well because he began to shoot back at the group's knees where the fire wasn't blocking his gun's trajectory.

Trisha knew she was going to be a bad shot, but she took her gun out of its holster and pressed the trigger. It wouldn't work. Sniper was still shooting.

"I-It won't work!" She called to her dark-haired teammate.

"Small button at the curve above the handle!" Sniper called back and continued firing.

She found and depressed a little red button, pointed and fired. The gun shot with a loud bang that made Akaru in front of her flinch.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! Fifteen shots. She took them all. The top of the gun opened, showing her the empty slide. Just then Akaru's fire ceased and vines shot from the ground beneath the group of seven, impaling each of them gruesomely through their throats where their gear wasn't protecting them.

"Trisha-chan." Akagi greeted, coming from the forest nearby.

"Akagi!' Trisha smiled for the first time since Genkai's temple. Sniper fell, clutching his side, gun still in hand.

"Sniper!" She shrieked, remembering that he was injured. She ran over to him.

"Akagi! Please tell me you can heal!" She whipped her head over to her friend.

"I'll go get Cevili-sama." Akaru murmured, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"No need." It was Cevili herself. Trisha hadn't seen her since Youko treated her and was happy to see she was okay. She was dressed in a silver kimono with a silvery-lavender sash around her middle. It was the kind of kimono that only the most beautiful actresses in the human world would wear. It was sexy, and allowed for freedom of movement.

"Cevili!" She greeted with a relieved smile.

The woman smiled back at her, gracefully.

"Ojou-sama." She greeted properly with a small bow. She descended to her knees gracefully and began to heal Sniper, pulling out flecks of metal from inside his body with tiny vines that seemed to just grow from the inside of her kimono sleeves. Sniper's jaw tensed but he seemed to be doing better. "What brings you here?" She asked. "We greatly appreciate the human sacrifices you have brought along with you." She added absently afterwards. Trisha's face turned green, remembering that demons still ate humans on occasion.

"C-Cevili, those weren't sacrifices they were… um… enemies I guess… I have to deliver a virus to someone named "Yomi"."

"Ah, I see. That can queue for a while then, no? We would like you to stay and rest. You look quite disheveled and if my sense of smell is correct, you are injured. That will not do. My brother would be quite concerned." She explained nonchalantly.

Sniper glared up at her as she considered the offer. She looked back down at him, understanding the urgency to complete his mission.

"You need to rest anyway. You were shot for God's sake!" She argued. "Besides, it would be nice to spend some time here, no?" She asked.

"I would rather die than eat barbequed people. We should leave immediately and complete the assignment." Sniper argued, clearly upset with her decision.

"Rest assured, human male, you need not eat your own species. We have plenty of edible lesser demons to accommodate your morals." Cevili appeased.

"Yeah. There's nothing wrong with eating imps. They actually taste good after a few hours over the fire." Akaru shrugged.

Him and sniper shared a stoic look that Trisha could not understand.

Was that silent guy-speak for "piss-off"?

Sniper looked back at her and she shrugged bashfully. He sighed and shook his head.

"One night. One night only. We're only stopping to rest because it's _dark_." He stressed. "The second that sun is up we're leaving, got it?"

"Awesome!" She smiled, despite the deaths that just occurred. Cevili moved to heal her once she was done with Sniper. The dark-haired man sat up and rubbed his side, as if to experiment with it. Once he realized the skin would not split back open he weakly stood up and loaded a fresh magazine into his gun, just in-case…

Trisha peered at all the fox demons that gazed at them curiously. They all looked to be of many different ages. Some looked very young, others looked teenaged like Akaru and Akagi and others looked to be in their early twenties. Of course, Trisha knew better than to assume these demons were actually those ages. She was just observing their appearances.

"Perhaps you would like some hatefish to eat tonight?" Cevili offered with a smile.

Trisha smiled back wearily. Hatefsh? Seriously?

"Hatefish will be perfect then…" She tried not to sound too grossed out. She hoped they were like normal fish, like salmon or at least close to something like salmon or tilapia. Sniper grimaced at her, clearly uncomfortable with her overt friendliness with demons, but accepting of the situation regardless.

"Good. You can come and fish for them with me." Akaru grinned. "We can use you as bait." Akagi punched him lightly as Trisha's face soured.

-X-

YAY! Sniper and the Southern fox tribe! Too much sexiness for one chapter. Hit me up with reviews guys!

QUESTIONS: 

What is your dream place to visit?

I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. All rights reserved.

See ya later, Space Cowboy!


	25. Yomi

WEEDS CAN TURN INTO FLOWERS

|25|

Wow. Twenty five. TWENTY FIVE CHAPTERS GUYS! Sorry it took so long to update. All I can say is please understand. Now without further ado, here is the long-awaited CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE!

-X-

After a few grilled Hatefish, a delectable side of red imp and a round of demon-world hard cider, Trisha was full and slightly drunk, watching fox demon children run around and challenge each other while their parents and other demons of the Southern tribe chatted amiably. She watched a small male fox demon with wild, short, _vibrant_ red hair and green eyes— eerily similar to Kurama— shoot fire and sharp leaves at his brother, a child with brownish-red hair and light, almost-grey, green eyes. The vibrant-haired child was younger and struggling to control the most basic technique: kitsunebi; fox-fire. Regardless of how pathetic the child was in comparison to his older brother, when he released the fire it was mesmerizing.

She could feel herself sway in between Akagi and Akaru.

…

…

…Even though she was sitting on a log near the campfire.

She felt calloused hands on her shoulders and looked up to see two of Akaru staring at her in a concerned manner. When had she leaned into him?

"Human-girl?" He queried, then frowned. "Your face is red..."

"I don't feel good… stop spinning around like that… it's not funny… y'know…" She tried to respond with acid, but couldn't form the proper tone with her voice.

_My tongue feels…heavy…. _

"Akaru… I believe our friend is intoxicated… it must be the cider…" Akagi tried to explain, ever the wise one, but only received a questioning look from her brother, which consisted of him raising a masculine, fire-engine-red brow, and looking like he didn't believe her.

"Yeah right. This one? Drunk from a little hard cider? Did you _not _see how much demon blood is in her veins, Akagi?" He questioned.

"I'm not drunk." She refuted with a pout. "Stop talking about me like I'm not here." She crossed her arms and shrugged off Akaru's supportive hands. "I need a bathroom, actually."

"Don't go into the Dark Forest. You'll come back with a ghost attached to your bum." Akaru mumbled, aggravated with her sudden refusal of his presence as she shakily and all-too-quickly stood on her feet.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know which is the good forest. It's that way." She pointed to the other side of the clearing and swayed off after receiving an agreeing nod from Akagi. She passed by Sniper and nearly choked on a laugh as she saw him making out with some fox-demon girl with loose, curly, burgundy hair and deep, entrancing, olive eyes. Her ears twitched as he ran his fingers through her hair, smirking against her lips. She was absolutely beautiful and she couldn't help but understand. Sniper was an uptight guy. Even he deserved to relax and just kiss every so often, if that was his thing, of course. Who was she to march in there and try to stop it?

"Mina…" He murmured, clearly delirious and drunk. He looked blasted when he pulled away and looked at her. **Absolutely. Blasted.** His normally clear, violet eyes were hazy and clouded and Trisha was sure he was thinking of another woman because the fox-demon-girl frowned and corrected him.

"I'm Mira, human… Mi-Ra." She chastised softly.

"M-Mina…" He dumbly murmured back with a confused expression.

"Mira." She corrected again.

"Miiiiinaaaaa….." He kissed her, not bothering to listen to her, but she didn't seem to care and Trisha almost laughed as she turned around and threaded her loose body through some thick bushes. She peed quickly and made her way back. By that point Sniper was gone. She had seen him slipping into a hut with the girl… Mi… Mi…. Mi….who? Whatever. Her name didn't matter. She tried to find her way back to Akagi and Akaru.

_There's so many redheads… _

That was a harder task than she thought it would be in her obviously inebriated state. She became nauseous as she moved her eyes across the scenery, looking for her friends.

_Whoah… 'moved my eyes too fast… why is everything sooo… fast? Why am I going so slow? I feel so heavy… _

She groaned and grabbed her forehead beneath her outgrown side-bangs.

_Okay… let's try this one more time…. _

She looked up and slowly studied each individual around her. She turned around and rammed right into some redhead that didn't have a shirt on. Well, that was convenient…

_Akaru? _

Wrong. It wasn't Akaru. She recognized that instantly because this demon did not have a fox tattoo on his chest.

"Drunk, human-girl?" He mocked, reminding her of Hiei's usually sour attitude. She glared up at him. He wasn't cool enough to act like Hiei. Who did this guy think he was?

"Piss off, _human_-breath." She spat in response. Yes, he had been part of the "non-vegan" group that ate the human meat she accidentally brought into their territory upon her arrival. She certainly decided to use that fact against him.

"Ooh, quite a mouth you have there. I'm surprised you're not as far-off as your partner." He commented almost playfully, but he only served to piss her off. His hair was an aggravating shade of magenta and his eyes were apple-green. His color scheme was giving her a headache and his white pants and blindingly magenta sash weren't helping her sore eyes either.

"I'm not drunk." She insisted, pouting once more as she wiggled out of his strong grasp. She hadn't even realized that he had been nice enough to steady her, despite just aggravating her to no end.

_Akaru… Akagi… where are you guys… _

She scanned her surroundings again. Where was that training area again?

"Are you looking for that human-lover, Akaru?" He asked, only serving to anger her more.

"Don't insult my friend." She commanded, acidly.

"Oh? Are you looking for a fight? I heard you were a spirit detective. Maybe we should go at it? Can you put your fists behind such venomous words?" He asked, almost _happily_. He was all to eager to test her skills out, that was for sure, but she did not register this at the moment.

"Actually, yes I can. You pissed me off just enough." She replied almost matter-of-factly.

She made a fist to swing at him but he caught it in his grasp, unaffected.

"Let's go to the battle area instead. The concept of publicly humiliating you is much more attractive than shutting your mouth here." He shrugged and she growled in response. Did his ego never end?

"Fine, ass-hat; lead the way." Her inner Yusuke was coming out. Uh-oh… But still. Whatever. Where he was taking her was where she last saw Akaru and Akagi. It would be beneficial anyway.

_Stupid, aggravating magenta hair!_ She hissed in her mind as the vine in her hair tried to calm her down.

"Actually, my name is Kei." He commented dryly as he walked ahead of her.

"Actually, I don't care." She sniped back, trying to be as 'Hiei' as possible. In her mind, it made sense at the time, even though she was being childish.

"Hmph…" He grunted but she could see his smirk from her point of view. He eventually led her to where the two fox-demon boys were still fighting. She was surprised she hadn't thrown up at the sight of the dancing fire and swishing, red tails. The speed at which they moved and attacked was incredible. Her drowning mind could not keep up.

"Human-girl!" She heard Akaru only a moment before she turned, again much too fast for her stomach's liking, and saw him.

"Whoa… my head…" She grumbled to herself.

"Back up, little kit." Kei stepped in front of her.

"Go suck one, Kei." Akaru snapped back as he reached and grabbed Trisha's arm. He pulled her forward a little too quickly and she stumbled. Thankfully he caught her.

"You really _aren't_ feeling good…" He murmured after glancing her over. "Akagi was right…"

"Go suck what…?" She queried in response to his concern, a few moments behind in the conversation. Really… what did Akaru go tell him to suck? Another guy's… you know… _thing_? Or was that some cultural fox-demon insult she didn't understand? Akaru shook his head and Trisha felt the Hatefish crawling back up her esophagus.

"Ew…" She groaned and put her hand on her stomach. Did he really have to move so fast while being so close to her?

"Release the human, Akaru. She has a score to settle." Kei instructed calmly. Trisha had a feeling he was a little older than Akaru by the way he spoke to him. Wait… 'score to settle'?

"Whaaaa?" She grumbled. What was he on about again? Oh yeah. That's right… She was supposed to fight him.

"What?" Akaru growled and his grip tightened on her arm.

"Ouch… Akaruuuuuuuuuu!" She wined and wriggled her arm out of his grasp. "That hurt, jerkface!"

"You told him you'd fight him!?" He ignored her.

"Yeah, what's the big deal?" She shrugged, throwing herself a little off balance.

"Are you blindingly _stupid?_" He spat back. "A challenge is a challenge here. You have to fight him even if you're dying; especially since you're an outsider! Never make a promise to a demon! Ever!" He looked ready to rip his hair out. It was so funny she laughed. What would Akaru look like if he _really _ripped his hair out? She snorted and laughed more. He'd look _really_ funny.

"What's so god-damn funny!?" He shouted in her face, earning some concerned stares from the people—ahem— _demons_ around them.

"You'd look funny with no hair…" She quickly explained, trying hard not to smile or laugh but failing miserably anyway. The image of a bald, angry Akaru just would _not _leave her mind!

"What? What the fu— what does that have anything to do with this!?" He sputtered inelegantly.

She laughed again and watched him shake his head, resulting in a horrible wave of nausea to overcome her stomach.

"Ew…. I'm… gonna throw up I think…" She groaned while inelegantly grimacing.

"Okay that's enough. Good bye, Kei." He finished their conversation and settled for leaving the situation.

With that he flipped Kei off and picked her up. She squeaked at the sudden change in her equilibrium and buried her face into her handsome friend's chest.

_God… please don't let me throw up… at least don't let me throw up on Akaru… please… _

Her stomach revolted at the idea of _not_ throwing up. She felt like someone was sitting at its very pit, churning stones 'round and 'round within it, trying to mock her for even _hoping _to keep her bile down.

Before she knew it, she was gently being placed upon a pile of leaves. She focused on Akaru and watched as he held up a cup of water for her to drink. She deliriously reached for it, despite not knowing where he suddenly got it from, but missed when she tried to grab it. In her mind it was moving in circles, dividing into two or three cups on occasion.

She growled in frustration and tried to grab it again, but he placed his hand atop hers and forced it downwards. He took her chin and pressed his thumb against her lips. She parted them in response. He slowly, meticulously raised the cup and pressed it to her mouth.

"I'm going to tip it. Be prepared to drink. I think Akagi said something about you being too dehydrated. She went to go find your _stupid _friend." He murmured. "Ready?"

"Mhm…" She prayed she wouldn't throw up in his face… really… how embarrassing would that be? There was just no coming back from that… what the hell was in that cider anyway?

All too suddenly the water assaulted her mouth and throat and it was all she could do to focus on drinking normally and not choking on it.

"There you go…" Akaru's voice soothed. Who knew he could be caring?

He watched her drink the entirety of the wooden cup's contents, then slowly, gently leaned her back.

She was out as soon as her head hit the pillow. Akaru smirked to himself at her antics— and secretly at his ability to make her feel better— and walked out to find his sister.

-X-

Sniper awoke sometime in the afternoon to an aggravated spirit detective poking him in the face with a stick.

"Yo…. Sniiiiii-per. Wake up…" She drawled. Being around the fox demons and their myriad of red hair and green eyes was making her miss Kurama. Chatting so amiably with Cevili made her miss Youko. Granted, Cevilli was much more open and easy-to-be-around than her brother, but she looked very similar, albeit more feminine and less muscular. Regardless, the flowing silver hair and honey eyes were enough to get her heart hammering with images of Youko and his lustful, playful gaze. Bottom line: She wanted to get this mission over-with so she could go home already!

"No… Mina… Mina…" He mumbled in his sleep, looking like he was having a nightmare even if he was partially awake.

"I believe your demon half helped you process the cider a bit better than this human. He was lucky Akagi came along or he'd have bedded some girl, thinking it was his lover. Imagine the guilt that would ensue after such a night of hapless mistakes…" Cevili murmured as she healed what Trisha assumed was a headache that Sniper was waving. The fox demoness was kneeling on the floor next to her ill comrade, a thoughtful expression on her face. Trisha really couldn't expect her to be worried or relieved. Demon experienced emotions and empathy differently than humans. A prime example was Akaru… he seemed immune to the fears she sometimes experienced. He came across as detached and apathetic about certain things but when it came down to it he really had a good heart. He had even helped her get better the night before. Granted, he didn't do much but he still showed a caring side she didn't know he had.

"Yeah… jeez that would be bad…" She murmured, sipping on a bottle of water that she fished from her backpack.

"I will watch over him and make sure he does not fall further into illness. Forgive me, but your assignment will have to be postponed." Cevili apologized, again as if she didn't really care. But how could Trisha blame her? She was alive for three-hundred-and-something years. There were more important things to worry about, really.

"It's okay. I want to spend some more time here anyway. I'll be back later!" She compromised.

She then waved and turned around to leave but Cevili halted her.

"Please wait, Ojou-sama." The beautiful fox demoness spoke quickly.

"Sure, what's up?" Trisha asked and slowly turned back around.

"I have something I would like for you to deliver to my brother's human vessel, if it is not too much trouble…" She reached into her kimono sleeve and pulled out an elegant-looking scroll tied tightly with a silver string. Trisha reached out and upon touching the scroll she realized the silver string was a woven strand of Cevili's air… Trisha assumed that that particular part of the message was for authenticity.

"A scroll?" She asked and continued to study the cylindrical object with curiosity.

"Yes, please tell him he should look it over as soon as possible. It is an urgent clan matter." She explained, cryptically.

"Oh! Okay then. Sure. I'll make sure he gets it as soon as we set foot into the human world." She smiled brilliantly, secretly glad she had an excuse to see Kurama. Yes, it seemed like a masochistic thing: seeing someone you liked but you knew didn't like you like that; but still… the bottom line was that she had a crush on a friend. The rest was just details.

"I greatly appreciate it." Cevili smiled back and bowed.

"No, it's no problem, really." Trisha responded, but at that the beautiful fox demoness frowned, but didn't say anything as Trisha shrugged and walked out of the small bamboo hut.

-X-

Sniper had slept the entire day away. By mid-afteroon Trisha was bored, so she hunted down her two favorite fox demons, along with Kei, the demon from the night before and took them to the training area. Akaru taught her some of his moves while she practiced them on Kei. Akagi sat back and watched as she sketched something on a piece of paper. Overall, the scenery was calming and even fun during the moments where Kei and Akaru would bicker like children. At the end of the day, she had learned that she did not need to be angry to fight. Even jumpy, erratic jabs were elegant—just like water-style— and had a purpose other than the maim or injure an opponent or attacker.

She realized she had never understood the _fluidity_ of 'Fire' because she didn't know it necessarily _had _any. Perhaps Genkai was trying to show her that fire would never work with violence by trying to provoke her, then teach her the elegance behind the style afterwards in a round-about kind of way. Almost like she wanted her to make a mistake in order to learn from it. It would explain Genkai pitting her against Suzuka, who was, yes, _annoying _but genuinely nice and truly her friend at the very bottom line.

Naturally, she felt stupid once everything had dawned on her and afterwards she had begged Akaru to teach her how to move her body with her unique style and how to connect each striking position of 'Fire' to make a string of elegant, almost dance-like moves. By the end of the day she still wasn't perfect, but at least she knew how to—figuratively— dance like a flame in battle.

The next morning Sniper awoke, argued and fought with Trisha, went to pee, then practically _dragged _her out of the southern fox tribe's borders as she was bidding everyone goodbye, claiming that they had 'wasted' too much time. A few hours later, they had reached a portal that took them to the third plane of Demon World, where Yomi's territory lay in the heart of a scenery that somewhat reminded her of a fusion between the Grand Canyon and the Mohave desert.

To put it bluntly, the sun was _brutal._

"I'm so hot… please… let's find a little cave and stop… please… Sniperrrr…." She whined, annoying even herself at this point.

But of course… Sniper was much, _much _more brutal than the sun.

"We'll stop either when the sun goes down, or when we get there." He coldly responded. She _wished _the air was as icy as his words. She could barely _breathe_ in the heat-wave! It was like walking through an oven! Her feet felt as if they were melting in her boots and out of pure aggravation she stripped off her Kevlar vest and threw it at Sniper's head. Of course, the seasoned government 'dog' dodged with practiced ease. He stopped and turned on his heel to glare at her.

"The less you fu—

"What's your problem, huh!?" She interrupted him; not giving him a chance to scold her. And in-case you didn't know, _yes_, she was _definitely _picking a fight because she was bored… **but** if you had to stare at the same, vapid scenery for hours on end while trudging through a humungous _oven_ caked in sand, you'd be bored out of your skull too.

"_My_ problem!? _You _threw _your _gear at _me_!" He screamed back at the top of his lungs. At this point Sniper was getting tired and delirious from the heat as well and the anger and exasperation was evident on his face and in his violet eyes. He snapped his finger at her then back at himself to accentuate what he was saying…er… _shouting_.

"Who's Mina!? Since you got screwed up last night all you've been whining about is her! You got pissed at _me_ of all people when you woke up and found out she wasn't there! So now that that's crystal clear, let me ask you again, _what the hell is your problem_?" She snapped back at him, completely ignoring his previous statement, and he glared at her venomously. He looked like a coiled snake about to strike. It was really incredible, because she had never seen anyone look _that _sexy while angry since the last time she saw Youko fight.

On a side-note, she almost smirked at her own boldness in provoking him. Hanging around Akaru, Akagi and Kei and learning so many things from them made her feel stronger, _braver_, smarter. She was nearly immune to the fear of making someone physically stronger than herself angry. His temper had only a minute effect on her level of fear.

She wondered if she was beginning to lose her humanity. Seriously. What woman pissed a dangerous guy off? Correction; _girl_. She was only seventeen. It was going to be her eighteenth birthday soon so she would technically be an adult, but even so, she knew that she would still have a long way to go before she hit the "woman" category.

Curiously, she watched Sniper's face as he transitioned from angry, to shocked, to confused, back to angry and then to sad, then to cold again. He turned around with an abrupt, "It's none of your business…" and continued trudging through the hellish sandbox.

Unperturbed, she followed him and decided to make a game out of finding out who "Mina" was.

"Was she your sister?"

No answer. She continued.

"Your mother?"

No answer. His muscles were tensed as if he found that idea disgusting.

"Your aunt?"

No answer.

"Your girlfr—

"Shut. Up." He ground out. She could tell his teeth were clenched.

"I won't until you tell me." She easily responded, while looking off somewhere to the east, or at least, what she thought was 'east'. She heard the distinct sound of Sniper's fist coiling tightly around their already beaten-up map before she slammed into his— gross and sweaty— back. He turned around and studied her. He sized her up from her toes all the way to the frizz on top of her head. She cocked an eyebrow innocently and he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I'll tell you if you help me keep an eye out for her…" He compromised, paused, then added to his compromise. "And if you promise to stop annoying me on purpose." She giggled in response; at least he was smart enough to figure _that_ part out. That was the point where she figured she liked his mind. He was smart, cunning, resourceful. All in all, he was an ideal comrade, despite his "lone-wolf" attitude.

"Okay, deal." She easily agreed. He continued walking ahead, took a sip of the canteen the fox tribe provided him and began to speak.

"I used to be on the bad side. I take it you've already met Yusuke, so let's just say I was with a group of people that he was fighting against. After the whole thing happened, I made myself scarce. When I met Mina… I… changed." He explained and she could tell he was leaving _a lot _of details out. But she could always pester him for them later, of course...

"You began to love her." She supplied to his story. He nodded in full agreement.

"She was—_is_— caring, kind, compassionate, loving, warm… beautiful. She's a beautiful person. I wanted a life with her so I sold my soul to the government. I joined The Black Order. I was good at killing— _assassinating_— but not much else. So I killed the bad guys—or whoever— and got paid handsomely for it. We were doing well for ourselves. I even got her a ring…" His demeanor became sad and his voice softened at the mention of the ring he bought her. Trisha assumed it was an engagement ring, and since Sniper didn't further comment on it, she figured she assumed correctly. He loved this girl so much he wanted to _marry _her. That was, to say the least, _serious business. _

"A year ago she went missing. She was just stolen from our apartment, even though I wired it to kill any intruders." He explained and she frowned in confusion.

"Oh. How'd you manage to wire something that complicated?" She asked curiously. Really, how did one "wire" an apartment to kill intruders? Whatever alarm system he had, she definitely wanted it!

"I teamed up with Koenma." He responded fondly. "He gave me spirit-energy-sensors that I bugged my apartment with. If they detected something wrong, it would use my spirit energy from wherever I was to activate my psychic abilities within the home. At that point I was under the impression that every sharp object would lift up and impale the intruder, but none of that happened. I came home and I thought she was out. I waited but she never showed up. It was only days later that I realized the living room was messy in an odd way and the window was open when I came home. She had been— obscurely—kidnapped. I've been searching for her since." He finished glumly, almost coldly.

That story was oddly familiar… it sounded a lot like the night that Ren tried to kidnap her from her room disguised as Kurama… but she kept her mouth shut. It was far too early to assume. She would have to speak with Kurama about the issue _and _Koenma. She was supposed to visit the redhead soon to deliver Cevili's scroll, anyway so it would be the perfect time to mention the issue. Also, the fact that Ren had been oddly quiet recently has been unnerving her. No evil-doer was quiet for that long until they had something _big_ planned…

"Well I'm Spirit Detective now, so I'll keep my eyes peeled. You never know if it was something demon-related." She responded with a positive tone to her voice.

"Actually I'm _sure _it was demon-related. Only a sneaky bastard could pull something like that off…" Sniper commented, still in his emotional rut.

"Well then at least we're on the right track. I'm sure she'll turn up somewhere. Maybe when I finish up my training I can visit your apartment. Maybe we can use something to track the traces of spirit energy in her stuff or something… You never know. It might just be possible to use old-school methods to track her down…" She offered and she saw him genuinely smile for the first time as he nodded in compliance.

-X-

Yomi's castle was huge, but more importantly _cool and dark_. It was a haven compared to the hellish inferno outside of its walls! She politely bowed upon meeting the six-or-so-eared former demon-king in his throne room. He seemed genuinely excited and stood up to greet them. More importantly, he seemed familiar with Sniper. At first Trisha was worried she would have to impress the demon or something, but she was relieved when she realized how really _nice_ he was.

"Good afternoon!" He greeted in an elegant, but resounding voice. "I suppose you're the new spirit detective this world has been buzzing about recently! It is an honor to meet you." He spoke enthusiastically as he grabbed her hand and kissed it. How he did that with a scarlet headband over his eyes, she had no idea. She assumed the six or more ears helped him pinpoint exactly where each appendage was on his guests and suppressed a shudder at the thought. Could he hear everything? … … …Down to the last drop of blood flowing through her veins?

"You seem stressed. Am I unnerving?" He asked after releasing her hand. He didn't seem offended. In fact, he seemed to expect such a reaction, as if it was normal and occurred with everyone new that met him.

"Um… no. It's just… how do you seem to just… Well, I don't know… _know _where to look without, um, you know… any eyes?" She asked bluntly and heard Sniper's palm connect to his face half a heartbeat later.

Yomi chuckled amiably, breaking the tension.

"You remind me of an old friend. These ears hear everything in my kingdom's borders. You cannot breathe in my city without me knowing about it." He explained. "Couple that ability with a decent sense of smell and your body tells me everything I need to know, naturally. You cannot help the fact that you are human as well. It is much harder for you to hide such things." He explained easily.

"O-oh. Jeez. Sorry if I'm accidentally being rude…" She blushed and he chuckled again.

"On the contrary, you're quite polite. In any case, may I please have the virus? I was worried when it was late. Naturally, Koenma had informed me that you had gotten held up, but if you knew the effects this virus can have even on the Demon World, you would be a nervous wreck as well." He explained even though he didn't seem to be nervous at all. Under normal circumstances, she would call him a liar and cry wolf about him being up to no good, but his spirit energy didn't taste particularly skeevy to her. Yes, he did seem to have some baggage that she was willing to bet was connected to his missing/bandaged eyes, but overall, he gave off the vibe of a genuine person who had honestly just been through a lot in his life. This is what made her so certain her wasn't a liar or covering up his true personality. He _felt _honest, to put it plainly.

"Oh! Well don't let me hold you up…" She fished the virus out of her pocket carefully. "Here." She held it out to him and he took it from her hand gently.

"A nobleman will arrive soon to escort you to the sitting room. It will only take a few minutes to seal this one away. You will be provided with tea and something to snack on. Kaname, please remove that grimace from your face, I sent servants to the human world to find something your diet would appreciate. I'm sure you will be quite astonished with the results." He spoke, turning his head towards Sniper at the end of his explanation. Her dark-haired partner chuckled and shared a friendly smirk with Yomi.

The kingly demon bowed to then afterwards and turned to leave. True to his word, moments later, a demon who looked pretty much human, except with elf-like pointy ears, entered the throne chamber. He had wavy, short black hair and crystal blue eyes. He was dressed in black with armor that appeared to be made of blue and white dragon scales.

"Yo, Anue." Sniper— ahem— _Kaname _greeted.

"Ah, Kaname-san. It's been too long. And what a lovely human woman you've brought with you this time. She appears a bit rough around the edges, but may I ask if this is the 'Mina' you've been looking for?" The demon politely asked, tipping his head towards Trisha in a silent 'hello', who simply nodded back.

"No, this is the new Spirit detective. Her name is Trisha." Sniper introduced.

"Oh, well… it is a pleasure to be introduced to you, Ms. Trisha." Anue smiled.

"It's nice to meet you too!" She grinned back. She decided she liked Yomi and his people. They all seemed to be very polite. They were easier to deal with than other demons, certainly.

"Please, follow me." Anue spoke and they complied, trailing after him and through a large, wooden door at the other end of the throne room.

After trekking through a few hallways, they were led into a cozy stone room with a comfortable-looking orange couch and a few matching orange chairs that were situated around a black, round table. Naturally, Trisha dropped onto the couch and exhaled as Anue disappeared and returned only a few seconds later with a pot of tea, ice water and… yes, my friends… Oreos!

"OH. MY. GOD." Trisha's eyes widened like saucers. How long has it been since she last had _Oreos_?

Before she left for Japan, almost certainly.

Sniper rolled his eyes at her antics as he eased into a comfy, bright chair.

"OREOS!" She exclaimed excitedly, happy just to _see _the tasty treats on the silver platter than Sniper must have ever been in his entire life.

Of course, she tanked three in one go, afraid to be rude by eating them all. Three was enough anyway, if she wanted to keep the sexy, but miniscule four-pack she had managed to obtain. It was hard work to get it there in the first place!

Anue chuckled after he finished staring at her, then bid them goodbye and left. Trisha downed half of the pitcher of water and maybe two cups of tea before she was satisfied.

"Do you always freely take things from demons? What if those were poisoned?" Sniper queried, just to make conversation. He wasn't out to annoy her, but she took his words as a challenge regardless.

"Do you always refrain from telling your mission partners your actual name, _Kaname_?" She shot back snidely, earning a playful glare from him. "Besides, why the hell would they poison me if they're going to depend on me to deliver them things to seal away in the future? It makes no sense." She shrugged and he nodded, satisfied with her answer.

"I was just checking to make sure you weren't as stupid as you let on." And yes, there was a smirk coupled with his confident tone.

She nearly spit out her tea and began to cough and choke as Sniper laughed at her.

"You jerk! I'm really smart, y'know!" She countered then coughed again until she was satisfied.

"Yeah but that doesn't change the fact that you're easy to rile." He shot back.

"Yeah, yeah; blah, blah… you guys and your jokes… seriously…" She muttered just as Yomi walked in, a knowing smile on his face, as if he were there to witness their interactions himself.

"Having fun?" He queried knowledgably.

"Something like that." Sniper mused and Trisha just shook her head.

Yomi sat in the remaining chair and cleared his throat in an official manner; as if he were about to give a speech.

"Now that you are here, _Ms. Spirit detective,_ I would like to ask you a favor." Yomi began, now serious and getting right down to his point. Trisha felt the vibe in the air change and became serious as well.

"Let me hear you out. I can't make any promises, though." She neutrally responded. He smiled back in what she assumed was amusement. Honestly, it was hard to tell without seeing his eyes.

"Very honest… That sort of bluntness is much appreciated here." He commented. His words seemed to run from deep within his heart or mind, but she couldn't be sure why. Was he lied to so terribly at one point? She realized it didn't matter. Those who were lied to the most generally tend to become the most honest of people…

"My only son has left my kingdom. I have a case-request form I would like you to deliver to Koenma. Please convey that I am asking him to kindly consider it, even though it is coming from Demon World and a former Demon King, no less. I would like my son back at all costs. He was quite difficult to incubate and grow. It would be a shame and a waste of life and time if he didn't come back, of course." He stated. Now his demonic roots were _really _showing. He sounded as disconnected from his emotions as Cevilli did sometimes. It somewhat aggravated her. The amused raising of his brows cued her in that he had heard her blood pressure rise in response.

"Oh and you love him. That's a factor in the situation too, right?" She dryly responded with sarcasm. How could he be so insensitive, honestly? It was his _only son _that had left him! Yomi chuckled and nodded.

"Yes the little parasite has grown on me; if that is what you mean." As he spoke he pulled a letter out from his red coat pocket and passed it to her across the table. She took it from him and slipped it into the pocket of her pants.

"All right, I'll send the request in. If he makes me, of all people, go after your son I can at least tell you I'll try my hardest, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there, I guess." She shrugged and he seemed pleased with her attempt to reassure him.

"Of course. In any case, it was quite the pleasure meeting you. If you walk through the door behind you, it will take you to the chamber that houses a gate. Koenma has mentioned that it will be opened within a few seconds. Please, be safe." He explained just as Trisha's senses exploded with the raw energy that usually swirled from a portal.

"You too and thanks for the cookies they were awesome!" Trisha grinned, waved, then grabbed Sniper as he was bowing, dragging him through the door, partially because she was more than ready to go home and shower and partially because she wanted to get revenge on him for dragging her away from her friends. He seemed to catch on to her ulterior motives and punched her lightly in the shoulder for getting him back. She giggled just as they stepped through the door and followed the hallway that led to the chamber with the portal.

-X-

Okay so now we've 'met' Yomi! Any opinions? Did I portray him correctly? I hope so. How do you guys feel about Sniper opening up a little? Good? Bad? Too fast? Was it done well at least? Let me know!

QUESTION! 

What are your predictions for the future chapters of this fic besides the obvious? Is there anything you guys are particularly expecting or foreshadowing? Let me know! I promise there will be lemons and sexy things soon! Please just give me time to properly set everything up first!

Yu Yu Hakusho does not belong to me. All rights reserved.

-Review please!-

See ya later, Space Cowboy!


	26. Blackmail

WEEDS CAN TURN INTO FLOWERS

|26|

-X-

"Well it's about damn time!" Koenma huffed, now in baby form behind his desk. It only earned him stern glares from both Sniper and Trisha, who looked tired, disheveled and just plain over and done with the day. Both sported pale faces and deep under-eye circles. They were certainly in no mood to hear Koenma's complaining.

"You're over a thousand years old 'oh Great Koenma' and you're _still _throwing two-year-old tantrums?" Trisha condescendingly spoke, calling upon her inner "Youko" as best as she could. She rose her eyebrow and everything to go with her 'supercilious' demeanor.

Koenma looked shocked.

"I assumed you'd have grown past that stage by now… shouldn't you be behaving more like a disciplined four-year-old now, at the very least?" Sniper added to her jibe, crossing his arms like a disappointed parent. Trisha smirked at the vein that nearly busted open in Koenma's forehead.

"You two took damn forever to deliver that virus so I had to ask _Hiei_ of all meanies to grab the next one that came in! Do you have _any _idea how hard it is to get him to do something he really doesn't feel like doing!? Hmmmmm!?" He shouted back, clenching his fists then slamming them down on his desk.

"Okay whatever. That's your problem." Trisha huffed. "Oh and by the way you have a case-request form from Yomi. Something about his son. Take a look at it." She flung the envelope at Koenma and turned around to leave. Sniper stayed behind only a second longer to witness the envelope hitting Koenma in the forehead and causing him to gush blood from a paper-cut. He snorted and trailed after Trisha, surprised that she was bold enough to display such uncaring behavior. Sniper shut the door on Koenma's shouting and, for the first time in three or so days, took a relaxing breath.

"That was hilarious." He commented as they waited for a duo ferry girls to take them to the proper portals to go home. Trisha laughed and nodded.

"I know I'm annoying, but I wanted to thank you for being an awesome comrade. It was good to have you as a partner." She responded with a different subject topic, much to his surprise. Before he could grumble like an embarrassed school kid, she spoke again. "Oh and I know you work for the government and stuff and it's probably impossible to reach you, but let me know how I can possibly do that, in-case I find anything on Mina. Maybe you could send me some background info and a description or something, y'know?" She offered and he became serious once again.

"Hand me your communicator." He commanded. Obediently, she fished the spirit-world cell phone out of her pocket and gave it to him. He pressed a few buttons on it and handed it back to her. She rose a questioning eyebrow in response while simultaneously jamming it back into her pocket.

"I'm in there under 'Sniper' in your contacts. The Order doesn't know how I communicate with Spirit World, so you can call or message me on that number any time. I'll send mail later with a photo attachment and a description. I appreciate you keeping your eyes peeled for her." He supplied and she smiled.

"It's no problem. She means the world to you, you big dope! Of course I'm going to try my hardest to find her for you." She winked and Sniper was about to retort something Hiei-esque when two ferry-girls popped up and interrupted him. A dark-haired one in black bowed and demurely asked "Kaname-san"— as she called him— to follow her. The two shook hands, waved and Sniper was led off down a peach-colored hallway. The green-haired ferry girl in a white and olive kimono and ornately-designed hair who was left in the hallway with her grinned and introduced herself.

"Hey-a! I'm Hiku! You don't have to introduce yourself; I know who you are— just follow me and I'll take you to Genkai-sempai's place!" She giggled at her own joke. "Did you see what I did there? 'Genkai' and 'Sempai' sound the same— they almost rhyme!" She giggled again, summoned an oar and trotted down the hallway. Confused and surprised, Trisha followed her as she began to hum a peppy tune that somewhat reminded Trisha of Cascada's "Every time we touch". She certainly had a lot of energy. Trisha on the other hand was _exhausted._ They walked through a door at the end of the hallway and Trisha screamed when she realized they were right above the atmosphere in some sort of in-between space with lots of clouds.

"HOLY CHRIST!" She gripped Hiku and glared at the girl when she laughed in response, not bothering to hold her back.

"You almost died!" She grinned. "Heart-attacks don't usually happen to seventeen-year-olds! That would've been a one-in-a-million kind of thing to see!" She jested, not the slightest bit serious. Trisha gaped at her and partially contemplated breaking her arm. Did _anything_ make her frown? "We're going to fly down there on this!" She waved her oar and then sat on it. "You can sit behind me!" She grinned again.

"R-riiiight…." Trisha gave her a fake smile, trying desperately to not let her bad mood show and tiredly sat on the thickest part of the oar.

"Hang on tight!" Trisha gripped her seat, just in-case. "Three….twooooo….. ONE GO!"

She was sure they left an after-image, they moved so fast! It must have been maybe ten seconds flat, but when she felt the oar stop and fell off of it, she was on Genkai's deck, heart hammering in her chest.

"See ya next time, Spirit-detective-chaaaaaaaaan!" Boom. She was gone again in a flash. And she _did _leave an after-image. Trisha was sure even _Hiei _wasn't that fast!

_Then again… maybe he is… _

"Good to have you back." Genkai was sipping tea on a large, purple pillow on her deck. Trisha immediately felt bad for how bratty she had acted before she left. She immediately touched her forehead to her crossed hands on the ground in a traditional, Japanese cow-tow.

"I'm so sorry for missing your point earlier. I didn't mean to be such a brat!" She exclaimed, not a shred of embarrassment or pride in her soul. She was wrong. It was right, and in fact, felt better to just _admit it._ "You were trying to teach me something and I refused to learn it at the moment. That's not why I'm here and I'm sorry for insulting you." She explained honestly.

"Wow, it's nice to be appreciated now and then." The old woman's response didn't sound like the conventional words of forgiveness, but they made Trisha smile as she stood up from her cowed position.

"I want to spar again because I think I learned what you were trying to teach me. 'Fire' has fluidity too. It's just different." She explained and Genkai smirked, seemingly to herself, and nodded.

"I guess spending your free time with demons isn't so bad, huh? Maybe I'm not crazy to have so many of them around me all the time." She shrugged with a satisfied smile.

"I'll show you everything I learned, I promise, but I have something to do first, unfortunately." She looked at the sun. It was late afternoon. Would she be able to make it to see Kurama and give him the scroll?

"Go do what you have to do, kid. You're young and you take life too seriously, anyway." Genkai leisurely responded.

"Thank you!" Trisha bowed and ran to her room pulling her phone out as soon as the door was shut. Why was her heart hammering as her finger hovered over Kurama's name in her 'contacts' list?

_Will you just relax? He's just a friend. A friend. A friiieeeeeeennnnnnnnnd. Treat him like Akaru. Right…. Right! I'll just treat him like Akaru! _

The encouraging thoughts gave her the courage to press the green button. After a few rings he answered. He appeared to be on a train and his green eyes focused on her intensely, searching for any sign of fear or danger. When he found none, he relaxed and smiled.

"Hello Trisha. It's nice to hear from you." He greeted, politely as ever.

She couldn't responded. Her blood was pounding in her ears and she blushed.

_Stop being so nervous! But God he's… really good-looking! _

"Wh-What happened to your hair!?" She frantically blabbered the first thing she noticed about him. He had cut his hair and for some reason he was wearing a casual business suit. He touched a short, vibrant lock of his bangs and continued to smile.

"It got donated, if that's the answer you're looking for…" He smirked. She noticed a distinct difference in his personality and frowned, forgetting about how big of a crush she had on him almost instantly. Had he and Youko somehow _merged_? His face was the same, but that smirk was certainly, _definitely _a Youko-Kurama trademark!

"Um no. Sorry I was just surprised. I meant to ask why you cut it?" She scrambled to not look like an idiot. He was back to the "friendly Shuichi" smile in less than a second… strange….

"I have assumed a position at my step-father's company for the summer. As their newest intern, I had to conform to the dress code. They do not tolerate unruly hair on males here." He explained with an easy shrug of his shoulder.

"Oh… but you're so young! They allow that here in Japan? An internship already?" She queried and Kurama smirked again.

"Fortunately, my step-father is the president so he allowed it, even though it is uncommon. In any case, you look exhausted. I'm assuming you have just concluded part of your training?" He averted the topic back to her and she shook her head, ignoring how handsome and masculine he looked with his hair short and got down to her point.

"Well, I just got back from demon world actually. I was on a case. Um, while I was kinda stuck there I visited your sister. Well… Youko's sister I guess?" She wasn't sure now who's sister Cevili was at this point. Was she _technically _Kurama's— _Shuichi's_— sister too? She shook her head clear of the confusing technicalities and continued. "Anyway, she had a scroll with a note in it, I suppose. It's really important that you read it. She said it was something clan-related. I told her I'd get it to you as soon as I set foot in the Human World, so yeah I was wondering if I could drop it off if you're not busy?" Why did it _feel_ like she was asking him out? She felt so awkward! More importantly she felt like a dumb sixth grade girl! Couldn't she be more cool? More…who knows… _suave_ about it? Fail.

_Ugh! Snap out of it! _

Kurama beamed at her, easing her nerves a bit. Coincidentally the vine in her hair wriggled around a bit, almost excitedly.

"Of course. Would you be able to meet me at a restaurant in the heart of town? I can send you the details via e-mail of course." He offered and she blushed.

"Um… sure? What time?" She didn't remember those words leaving her mouth, she was so excited!

"21:00."

_Nine pm. That's late but it'll take a couple of hours to get there anyway… _

"Sure that's plenty of time." _If I rush… _"Anyway I'll see you then, by—

"Trisha, wait please." He cut her off, somehow managing to even make an interruption polite.

"Um, yeah?" She looked at him blankly.

"Please dress semi-formally." He smiled, somewhat cryptically.

"Um… sure…" She gave him a strained smile. Semi formally!? She had nothing "nice" to wear!

"I will see you soon." He smiled and hung up. She double, triple, _quadruple _checked to make sure she had hit the "end" button on her phone before she reacted….

_Okay… coast is clear… _

She let out a frustrated cry.

"What am I supposed to doooooooooooo!?" She wailed and pulled at her hair.

-X-

Kurama chuckled as he slipped his phone into his pocket.

"_You're quite excited." _His demon-half purred.

"_As are you." _He smoothly countered.

"_I didn't think we'd be seeing her so soon."_Youko commented.

-X-

"WAAAAAAA! I'm toast!" She cried. "All I have is jeans and t-shirts! What am I supposed to be in this life-story; Cinderella!?" She cried to the heavens, but no one listened. There had to be _someone_ who could help her! Where was her fairy god-mother to help!?

"Stop your incessant wailing, human; it's making my ear drums bleed." Came Hiei's annoyed tone form her window. Suddenly, Trisha smirked, evilly. Her prayers had been answered. Maybe the 'fairy god-mother' sent to help her wasn't ideal… but he was certainly fast enough to get to a mall and back.

"Hiei…." She purred venomously.

_A fairy…well… __**demon**__ god-__**father**__ will do, too… _

The fire demon gaped at her for a moment. Was that… pure… _evil _he heard in her tone?

"Hn." He defaulted to his usual retort. She wasn't going to scare him.

"I have a task for you…my minion…." She seethed, hunched over in front of her small closet with a pile of clothes littered around her in a circle. If Hiei didn't know any better he would say she looked like she was about to use him as a sacrifice to some sort of human-world fashion-god. His face fell in annoyance at her words, however. No one called him _their _minion. Not even Mukuro and she was a former 'king' of Demon World. He worked for no one but himself.

"I'm no one's grunt. Find someone else." He stood up to jump out his window, but she was upon him faster than he was aware she could move. Her long, human arms coiled around his legs and she had tears in her eyes as she looked up at him from her sorry position on the floor. The previous thump he heard had told him she had ended up like this because she literally _launched _herself at him. He wouldn't be surprised if her ribs were sore or bruised from the action.

"Hiei!" She sniffled, obviously ignoring any injuries she had accrued during her short trip from her pile of clothes to his presence. "You have to help me! You're the only one who can!" She wailed and his ears nearly imploded once more. He hated tears more than anything. _Hated. _

"Stop cryptically screeching and put your problems into words!" He snapped, losing his temper. He was sure his body had naturally increased in temperature from his anger as well. She seemed to contemplate his harsh words and let him go. Now she was on her knees, seated traditionally but properly.

"Okay. I have to see Kurama." He rose and eyebrow. So what? That was her problem? Did she _not _wish to see the fox? If so that wasn't something he could solve. "But the thing is, he asked me to go to a really upscale place to meet up with him. Now that would be fine of course… but I have nothing elegant to wear! Now, you're really fast. Like really, _really _fast. I respect your speed a lot. That's why you're the only one that can go to the mall a few towns from this mountain, and bring me back the dress I want! And shoes… and makeup… and perfume… and stuff…" She waited for his response with baited breath and sad, blue-grey eyes.

He contemplated this. He was obviously fast so she wanted him to go shopping for her like he was some sort of human boyfriend? Degrading. A demon of his status and power was no errand-boy to a human woman.

"Hn. No." He retorted.

He turned around to leave and watch her suffer through this outing with the fox in undesirable attire, but the blasted woman grabbed his ankle before he could even take a step!

"There is no 'no' here. If you don't go… I'll…-

She scrambled for a threat! _Hurry! Think! _

-I'll tell your secret."

He froze. She knew about Yukina? His entire body stiffened. Was it so obvious that every human with half a brain could tell despite their obvious differences?

Hiei looked like a coiled snake and she knew she had him. She had no idea exactly _how _she had him, but she did. She didn't know any of his secrets, but she was fantastic at pretending that she did. In all honesty, she was surprised he didn't invade her mind to double check and make sure.

"I'll fry your insignificant, human mind!" He roared. Uh-oh… Time for some sheer bravery!

"Well.. I suggest you start now, because if I assumed correctly, demons have a very good sense of hearing so— ATTENTION GENKAI'S TEMPLE! HIEI-

He crashed his hand over her mouth and gave he the most menacing glare she had ever seen on a demon ever. She actually shuddered because he really _was_ scary, despite being four-foot-ten; but the fact remained that she had successfully tricked him. She had not planned on finishing that sentence past saying his name, and he conveniently fell for her ruse just in time, just as she had predicted. Hook, line and sinker…

"You have your compromise, human. I will hunt this dress and find it for you." He seethed, obviously defeated, and she smirked beneath his palm…

-X-

Ten minutes later she had finished skimming through Victoria's Secret's website and had found the dress in the right color and size. She fished out her credit card from her bag and handed it to Hiei who finally stopped pacing around the room for once.

"Now remember, you're going to go into the store. It will be very pink and black and there will be lots of human women on banners in frilly, scanty things. That's the one. What's the name again?" She tested him cocking her eyebrow. He sighed, beyond annoyed.

"Victoria's _stupid _Secret." He seethed in response. She smiled amiably.

"Great! So you go in there and ask for assistance. Pull out the phone, press the button on top and show her the dress. She should go get it for you, or ask you to go to the desk with her. Hand her the card, swipe it, let her bag up the dress and go to the next store." She instructed.

Hiei's brow twitched.

"There's _more _to this?" He grumbled. He would have to visit more than one store? How many things did this incessant woman _need? _

"Well… if you don't want to do it, then I guess the whole temple can find out your secret… and I mean the _whole _temple, Hiei." She threatened and he shut his mouth, but did not stop glaring. "_Any_way. I'm going to draw the name of the store and write down some things. The process will be the same. You go in, hand the paper, ask for assistance, do the same thing. Okay?"

"_Fine_." The fire demon bit out. His arms were crossed and his blunt nails were digging into his cloak. She quickly got down to scribbling the designs of the stores on a piece of notebook paper and everything she wanted from them and handed the parchment to Hiei five minutes later. He snatched it from her and disappeared without a word. She smiled and started taking off her clothes to shower.

-X-

Hiei arrived at the "mall" seconds after he left the temple. Grumbling, he actually entered the establishment, instead of just observing it as he usually did, and glared at the human woman in a navy and white uniform that greeted him. After successfully scaring the woman, he tried to walk at an average human pace, that _annoying _girl's cell phone, paper and money-card in hand. It was a miracle he hadn't broken or burned the objects by now.

After ten minutes of walking and glaring at the few people who stared at him strangely, including the group of four fat men in uniforms that were _so _painfully obvious about their mission to follow him around, he found the first store. The one about the woman who had a 'secret' of some sort.

A myriad of disgusting scents assaulted his sensitive nose as he entered the place, coughing as some of the workers in the store passed by him. They all smelled too strongly of perfume. Disgusting. How did human men find them attractive? He vaguely remembered Kurama saying something about the scents being pleasant to men at some point and figured he would call the kitsune a liar next time he saw him; the scents were _hellish_.

Trudging onwards through the store, gaining curious looks and giggles from the largely female clientele there, he wondered… what exactly _was _this secret this woman— Victoria— had? Did she own the store? Was she there? Would he be able to take his frustration out on her and tell her how truly _idiotic _the design of the store was and that if he could he would blast it off of the face of the human world?

"Excuse me, can I help you with something?" A human girl asked him. Her black hair was down in loose curls. She had full bangs that framed her face and she was wearing a black dress and matching black shoes. She had an ear piece and microphone in her ear and her golden, shiny name tag read "Kimi". He glared at her.

"Yes, human, you can." He responded, trying to use the "manners" Kurama had tried to drill into him. The girl gave him a funny look, but she forced a smile regardless. He did not like her lies and fake demeanor.

"Right… what can I help you with sir? Are you shopping for yourself, or a special someone?" She asked.

He glared at her.

"Neither." He responded. It wasn't a lie. He was _most certainly_ not going to purchase anything for himself here; not because he did not have permission to use _that annoying woman's _money-card for himself, but because he abhorred everything within the vicinity. He was also not buying anything for anyone special. The only 'special' person in his life was his sister and he'd be damned if he'd ever let Yukina walk around dressed in anything from this vile store. The girl frowned again.

Somewhere inside, Hiei was happy that his "lack of manners"— as Kurama would call his current behavior— was making the girl upset to some extent. The whole world deserved to burn for what he was being blackmailed into doing… but he wasn't going to do that. Unleashing the dragon from hell upon this world and killing nearly every human on the continent would upset his sister and maybe, possibly injure the few comrades he had here. It would certainly put him on bad terms with Yusuke and Hiei was not one to cause ail and calamity to people he considered his allies.

"Ooooooo-kaaaaayyy….." She compromised seemingly with herself. "Are you, um, trying to find something in particular?" She asked. "I work here so if you have anything specific in mind, I can get it for you." She smiled again. Her resilience to his attitude was absolutely annoying.

"I need the items on this device." He held out the phone and grit his teeth when he realized she "cutely" bent down to take it from him. He wasn't _that _short, damn it! She pressed the button and he watched as her chocolate brown eyes scanned the page.

"Oh. I see. Wait here. I'll see if I can find that in the back!" She pulled out a notepad, scribbled something on it with a tiny pen and walked away after returning the phone to him, genuinely happy to do something for him.

He waited and watched as people passed by him. One woman bumped into him and apologized, then looked at him strangely. He wondered why everyone here was female. To a certain extent it was unnerving. He had never been around so many human women at once, then remembered the stories Youko had told him of massive orgies with human women. He had bedded some so hard they died that night. Naturally, this was long, long ago when all three worlds were most likely still one, but the point was that this is what it must have felt like. He grimaced and wondered if the legendary Kitsune was really such a masochist that he would subject himself to such torture. Really, the smell was despicable. Kimi returned with a frown on her face.

"Um, sir, I'm really sorry, but the dress you're looking for is out of stock…" She explained, and before she could explain further, Hiei's temper snapped like a rubber band that was at its limit.

"What the hell do you mean it's "out of stock"." He growled. He didn't exclaim anything, but his tone was dangerous nonetheless.

"Um…" Kimi looked dumbfounded, as if she were surprised he didn't understand. "Well everyone bought it and we have no more left…" She rephrased.

"Now what am I supposed to do." He asked her. She was the one who was supposed to help him obtain this specific dress. If there was no dress to obtain, then she had better get him one that was similar or just as good.

"Um… well…"

"She wants this specific dress."

"You can't call her to see—

"No."

She was sweating now, he could smell it. He was stressing her out and frankly, at this point he didn't care. His secret would be out if this visit wasn't satisfactory in the end. It was funny how both him and the woman who owned this store had a secret and he focused on the coincidence to get his temper in check.

"Um… okay… um… can you tell me a little bit about her? Maybe I can find something that suits her tastes….? She's a small so we have plenty of other dresses in stock that she might like…" Kimi compromised, back to smiling.

Hiei really hated communication.

"She's annoying." He described, wrinkling the paper in his hand, wishing he was crushing her skull, or better yet, her soul.

"Oh my…" Kimi murmured, surprised.

"But she's sly, that bitch." He growled under his breath. She had blackmailed him, one of the most feared demons in demon world!

"O-Oh… O-kay…Um… what cup size is she?"

"Cup-size?" He queried as if the term was what he was angry at. Humans had such stupid terms for things.

Kimi became slightly afraid. Hiei could sense her fear and stress rolling off of her petite body in waves.

"I-I mean! How far do her breasts stick out?" Kimi corrected herself in a whisper, blushing.

Hiei looked up and to the left as he asked his Jagan for a snapshot memory. He worked to place his hands a specific distance from his chest, not seeing how it mattered and watched as Kimi studied him from the side, bending at an _annoying _angle that he determined only she could.

"Okay. What's her hair color, eye color, and skin color?" She asked, cheered up with the extra information. Did humans just _like_ information? They certainly like to talk; something he _hated. _

"How will this help find another garment?" He glared, uncertainly. Kimi giggled and he tried to blow up her head in his mind. He did _not _want to be here longer than necessary.

"Don't worry, just answer the questions. It's a girl thing." She winked at him. He hated winking. It made him cringe on the inside.

"Blue eyes, brown hair, pale skin. Like yours." He muttered.

"Okay! Perfect! I'll be back in a few! Don't move! I'll also see if I can get my manager to throw in a complementary bra!"

She scampered off like the previous time, an _annoying _pep to her step. He waited a few minutes and blocked the isle he was in, annoying some women, especially a particularly fat one that wanted an object he was in front of.

"Um, excuse me, _sir_ I need that!" She spoke with an attitude it would have been wise not to use with him at this time.

"_Manners, Hiei." _Kurama's voice in his head was like the angel on his right shoulder.

_**Screw**__ manners. _

Too bad the demon on his left shoulder usually won those types of fights.

"Find it somewhere else." He snapped.

"Ex_cuse _me!? What gives _you _the right to tell _me _that, _chibi-otoko _." For those of you that don't know… she just called him a mini-man. That. Pissed. Him. **Off**.

"That will not make you any more attractive anyway, pig-woman." He gritted through his teeth, and looked directly at her, piercing her with his crimson eyes. She looked absolutely astonished that he had the nerve to call her that. She was so astonished that her mouth hung open. At that point, Kimi showed up, confused at the situation. He was actually thankful that she had kindly asked him to follow her, removing him from the urge to kill the woman who had aggravated him.

"So I got her this!" She exclaimed excitedly as she held up a bright, orange-red dress that Hiei could care less for. There was only one thing on his mind…

"Will that one be satisfactory?" He asked, dead serious. Kimi exploded into a fit of laughter, but nodded her agreement.

"You must be a really wonderful boyfriend." She commented and conveniently rolled off a total price, in which he just handed her the card and she took care of it. She wrapped the dress and some other contraption he could not understand the point of in bright pink tissue paper and handed him a pink, striped bag and the money-card that paid for the items he now held.

"It was a pleasure helping you sir, have a fantastic evening!" Kimi waved, and Hiei realized she was genuinely happy for him for some reason. He nodded, said nothing and left.

The rest of his trip was relatively easy. He found someone stupid-looking and dressed in black in each store, handed them the things he mentioned he needed and they went to get them for him. He purchased the items and left. The second he had left the mall he took off at full speed, making sure no one saw him leave beforehand. He was at Genkai's temple within seconds.

"Geez! I've been waiting for like, half an hour! I thought you ditched me! I was about to go tell your secret!" Her _annoying _voice greeted him.

Within seconds Hiei's face was in hers.

"You better had not revealed anything." He threatened, coldly.

"I said I didn't!" She bravely argued back, pushing his face away from her with her face. "Now let me see!" She excitedly held her hands out and suppressed a laugh for reasons he could not understand.

She had to admit, seeing Hiei toting around bags from Victoria's Secret, Mac and someone other expensive perfume and accessory store was absolutely _hilarious_. She would take a picture so she could blackmail him more later on, but she decided to be nice instead. He probably almost killed a couple people trying to get these things… after all, Hiei wasn't the most sociable or patient person. Actually… neither of those words were on the list of adjectives that described him. He shoved the bags towards her and made a move to leave.

"Hiei wait." She stopped him.

He growled and spun around.

"WHA— He went to snap at her, but found himself engulfed in warmth instead. The human-girl was hugging him.

"Thank you." She sounded genuinely happy and was smiling when she let him go. He tried to force a glare to his face but he found that he could only pull a neutral look.

"How come you didn't get the perfume?" She asked, quietly and he smirked. He was waiting for her to notice something missing from her _stupid _list. He refused to get it for a couple of reasons. Number one, it was the one thing he could annoyingly omit to get revenge for what she had made him do. Number two, he didn't want Kurama—his oldest friend— to suffer through such a disgusting scent. Number three… well… she genuinely didn't need it… and needed to be taught that she didn't need it.

"It smelled bad." Was his blunt response, coupled with a careless shrug. She smirked at him.

"Regardless, thanks." She reiterated.

"Rub some flowers from the forest on yourself instead. You'll smell better that way." With that advice, he disappeared and she smiled when she found a mixture of lilies and posies at the bottom of the bag.

Hiei was really a sweetheart, and whether he knew it or not, he was totally the "big brother" type when he wanted to be. Grinning, she began to excitedly get ready.

-X-

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA Hiei in Victoria's Secret, causing a scene! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAH Too funny! I was cracking up while writing this, I swear. Maybe it's not as funny as I think, but I hope it is! Let me know!

Leave reviews!

I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho. All rights are reserved to the people who own it.

See ya later, Space Cowboy!


	27. Date

WEEDS CAN TURN INTO FLOWERS

|27|

Incase any of you readers were curious, I'm having the communicators in this fic work like facetime in the real world. Remember, if you have an inclination towards the spiritual you will be able to see who's face is on the communicator; if not then no. This is how it seemed to work in the anime so this is how I'm keeping it in this fic. Just wanted to clear that bit up. Oh! And by the way! I got an AWESOME job and I'm looking for an apartment so I'm SUPER busy! Sorry for the long wait! I love you guys! –Heart-

-X-

She stared at herself in the mirror and decided she liked what she saw. The red-orangey dress Hiei had procured for her fit her body like a glove and accentuated just about every feminine part of her that mattered. The wedge sandals matched and added a few inches to her already long legs and her hair fell around her shoulders and down to her waist in long, billowing waves. Absently, she wondered if she'd be taller than Kurama in the shoes and giggled to herself about it. The little green vine was the only thing left that was annoying her. She frowned at the full-length mirror, hoping her make up wouldn't leak as she tried to shimmy it to the lock of hair in front of her.

"Come on, Vine-kun… I have to look pretty tonight and you're not helping…"

With a little bit of effort and some verbal coaxing, "vine-kun" as she had called "it" moved where she wanted it. She wove a few delicate flowers into it and smiled in satisfaction. She was ready and she had time to spare.

_Good thing Hiei got back so fast… _

-X-

During the long ride, she checked her communicator to go over a few things. Firstly, she wanted to make sure she was going to the right place. Secondly, she wanted to memorize Mina's face, her age and her weight. Sniper had messaged/emailed her the details on his missing girlfriend shortly after she had put her outfit on. Naturally, she still had her hair to do so she hadn't really looked at the message at the time.

Mina was absolutely beautiful. She also now understood why Sniper gave her a strange look when they first met. Mina and Trisha looked freakishly similar. Mina had long brown hair, cute, choppy front-bangs and large blue eyes. Her bone structure was obviously different but at a glance she could see how her friend had been confused. Mina's skin was lightly sun tanned in this picture and she was wearing a pale-pink, chiffon blouse. The girl's happy smile made a pang of sadness rip through Trisha's heart. Mina was gone now and missing, most probably at the hands of Ren.

But if Ren really had her… the question was… why did he need her in the first place? He was all about those stupid flowers… And wasn't Trisha the only flower maiden left who could control them? What was his goal and his plan exactly anyway? There were so many questions left unanswered and she was still so green in her training…

She yawned. Oh well. Today's worries were today's worries. She would let tomorrow's worries be tomorrow's worries… There was no use in stressing over something she could not help. Kurama would add the additional information she needed in the next hour or so and she would contemplate and psychoanalyze and turn every scrap of knowledge over and over until she had a solid theory then.

-X-

The walk through Tokyo to "HONBU"— The restaurant they were going to meet at— was exhilarating. Tokyo was _bustling_ with life. It was like New York. It never slept. People walked about with contemplative looks on their faces. Some walked around smiling. Some were still dressed in office attire and others were dressed casually. Some even wore the latest fashions. The lights were mesmerizing! Everything was colorful and filled with a subtle energy that gave her the extra kick in her step to get there faster despite how exhausted she still was from her mission. Checking her communicator, she noted she was fifteen minutes early upon arriving at the restaurant's front double doors.

"Miss; we need to see some ID." A bouncer in casual dress and a crew cut coldly commanded. Surprised, she pulled out her Japanese ID. The man checked it, looked at her face twice and motioned for her to go inside. As she grabbed the handle to the door, a warm hand placed itself atop hers.

"M-Mr. Minamino, sir! My apologies! Was this your date!" The bouncer looked frightened and bowed as Trisha turned around. Kurama's smiling face met hers and she blushed. He really looked good with his hair short. He was dressed in nice dark slacks that made him look taller, a pair of expensive looking shoes and a light pink button-up that he left untucked with the sleeves rolled up. Of course, only Kurama would be masculine enough to wear a baby pink shirt and still look like a man in it. The only other person she could think of that wouldn't look like a fool in one would be Yusuke.

"S-Shuichi. Hey." She nervously greeted.

"You look beautiful as always." He complemented, then turned to the bouncer.

"Jiro, you can stop bowing. You haven't offended me." The bouncer rose and Kurama shook his hand. Trisha was still thanking God that she hadn't messed up his name in public. If she had called him "Kurama" it would have arose suspicion.

"Enjoy your dinner, sir." With that Kurama held open the door and Trisha walked through, heart beating like a wild drum in her chest.

-X-

The inside of the restaurant was spectacular. It was three floors high! The first floor was a club/lounge where she saw the craziest and wildest fashions on people. The second floor was an empty ballroom that people were setting up in white and red, which she assumed was for some sort of wedding reception the next day. The third floor was the actual restaurant and it was modern and beautiful. The walls were glass with water cascading down them and into marble bases, where it would flow back up through what she imagined would be special piping in the floor and then back down the walls again. The marble bases held LED lights that changed colors every five minutes. The lights above were dimmed and the tables had beautiful mosaics of geishas and deserts and all different kinds of art on top of them. The floor was a large square of black marble that was surrounded by the same LED lights that gave the walls their mystical glow. Above, the ceiling had a beautiful painting of a woman in white on a hill of some sort. The moon, the lightning bugs and the stars in the painting were all replaced by dimmed, in-ceiling lights. The whole restaurant was romantic— especially when the LED's on the walls and floor turned to red— and the painted lady above only added to the breathtaking mood of the place.

A man with slicked-back, black hair and deep, chocolate eyes greeted Kurama with the same familiarity that the bouncer did, bowed and introduced himself as Kazuro. He was dressed in a nice suit and led them to a table with a "reserved" card atop. Trisha almost laughed when she saw the mosaic on the table. It was a lonely, white fox resting on a log in the snow. It didn't seem to care that it was alone, however, if its expression was any clue to its feelings.

Leave it to Kurama to sit at a kitsune-related table. She shook her head as he pulled out the chair for her and sat down, going over her table manners— that she had almost forgotten— in her head as she watched him confidently walk over to his seat and sit. She studied the various couples sitting at the tables around them, talking in hushed, romantic tones. Most of the women were all dressed beautifully. Some were in long, intricate dresses; others in short, fun ones, and still others were in gorgeous, silk kimonos. Most of their dates were dressed similar to Kurama. Expensive, but casual. She was secretly thankful she didn't look out of place. Actually, she thanked God in all his glory that she wasn't weird-looking.

Kazuro removed the card from the top of the table and mentioned a server named "Kiki" would come by in a minute or so with their menus.

"This place is really nice." Trisha murmured. It reminded her of some of the places her family would go to on business dinners with clients. Naturally, Alyssa was always the center of attention, but she had to admit the servers at these kinds of restaurants were polite and kind with everyone. It was the _clientele _that was nasty sometimes. She remembered an incident where she couldn't reach the sink in the lady's room and the only other woman there made fun of her, instead of helping her find a stool or something she could stand on. Trisha still remembered the glimmering navy sparkles of the woman's evening gown. Thankfully not five seconds after the "evil" lady walked out, an employee came to check to make sure the facilities were in order and helped her out so she could wash her hands.

Rich people sucked. Their hearts were usually replaced with money and greed.

"Mm. It is. It is one of the restaurants my step-father takes us to in order to meet with his clients." He explained and Trisha laughed. Kurama gave her a confused, but still amused look. "May I ask; what is so funny?" He queried curiously, clearly delighted that she was enjoying herself.

"I was just remembering how I was dragged to those kinds of things with my family too." She explained s her laughter calmed down.

"Ah, but there's a difference. You were dragged. I went to learn." He winked as he corrected her. She laughed again.

"Yeah, you're right on all accounts there." She agreed. "Anyway, let's get down to business now that we're here." She became serious all of a sudden as she pulled the scroll out of her purse. Kurama's beautiful, green eyes followed each of her movements carefully. She pulled out the scroll and placed it on the table, then slid it over to him. He took it, scented the hair on it and put it away. She frowned. Why wasn't he reading it? It was important!

"Kurama, that needs to be read _immediately_." She pressed and watched him shake his head in disagreement, his short, red locks moving along with his head. She gave him a confused look. What did he _mean_, 'no'?

"Forgive me, but I wanted to enjoy tonight first. The scroll can wait." He hovered his hand over where it rested in his pocket for a moment and then smiled at her. She blushed as red as his hair.

What? Was he saying he would rather enjoy his time with her than worry about some scroll? Well… that was surprising… Refreshing actually, but he probably meant it as a friend!

_Stupid Trisha! Stop getting all wired up for nothing! _

She blushed, but nodded. Just then Kiki came up to them and introduced herself. She was wearing a beautiful black Kimono with a light pink Obi. Her long black hair was up in an intricate design and real Sakura blossoms were intertwined in the small side pieces on both corners of her full bangs. She politely bowed and introduced herself to Trisha—since she was already familiar with Kurama— and handed them their menus. She asked if they had anything that they wanted already in mind; took down two orders of hot green tea and left with the promise of returning shortly.

Trisha studied the menus. They were bound in expensive leather and the pages on the inside were thick with beautiful lettering. The entrees had no prices listed, so she assumed tonight was going to be an expensive night. Thankfully, before she left for Genkai's, her father armed her with nearly two million dollars-worth of Japanese money and told her that if she needed him he was there for her. She decided on some delicious-sounding sushi and asked Kurama what his opinion was of the dish, since he had been there before.

"That one is delicious. The rolls come large, so be careful how much you order. I understand that in the United States they make them tiny." He explained while studying his menu.

"Oh. Okay. Thanks." She smiled.

She decided on another roll and a salad to go with it. Kurama was going to have barbequed eel and salmon with a side of rice and a salad. After a few minutes their teas had arrived and Kiki asked them if they knew what they wanted. They ordered and she left, and for a while they were left alone.

"How has your training been?" He asked, curiously and she smirked in response.

"Pretty good. I think I can hold you off for a while at this point." She couldn't help but turn up her nose a little in pride. She really _had _come a long way from when Kurama first started training her. Otherwise she wouldn't have made any effort to be smug.

_Oh why on earth would we ever want to be held off by her? _Youko purred in his mind and he smirked outwardly in response, knowing the fox within him would feel him doing so.

"Perhaps we should put that to the test." His green eyes twinkled with mischief and he looked even more handsome than before to her. "Gentleman" Kurama was sexy… but "Opponent" Kurama was even _sexier_! Maybe it was because she knew he would be able to give her a phenomenal challenge, or maybe it was because she knew he would toy with her and be entertained by it. Either way, she loved his energy and his drive when in competition. She loved how it was a struggle to make him eat his own words.

"We can, but when I complete the training _entirely_. After I show Genkai the offensive style I learned she's going to teach me how to control my spirit energy and attack with it. I want to be armed with at least that before I take you on." She smiled, hoping he'd notice the complement to his skills. Kurama smiled back, fully aware of her subtle complements to him.

"You're too kind with your words." He commented and suddenly their salads appeared. Kiki promised their food would be out shortly and mentioned she'd be back in a bit to check on them.

"Mmm! Itadakimasu." Trisha whispered and Kurama murmured the same words back. They dug in. She chewed and swallowed, then smiled.

"Whatever is in this dressing is amazing." She giggled and continued eating at the sound of his approval.

"Agreed."

"How has Youko been?" She asked curiously, worried for the amorous fox demon. Kurama chuckled.

"Restless." He responded, then frowned, as if Youko—within him— wasn't happy with that answer.

"_Poke fun again, Shuichi, and I promise I will reveal our secret in the middle of this restaurant." _

"_Well that would certainly embarrass our date, wouldn't it?" _The redhead slyly responded.

"_It appears we're merging again, Shuichi. You're picking up my smart remarks…." _

"_It isn't a bad thing, Youko." _

"Well if he's somewhere reachable in there tell him I say hi." She smiled and continued eating.

"Perhaps you can tell him yourself." Kurama smirked at her shocked expression and when he blinked his eyes were gold and absolutely _smoldering _in a way that only Youko Kurama's orbs could burn. She felt as if his gaze would eat her alive and somehow, she ended up feeling quite excited at the thought of that.

"Good evening." Youko greeted through his human half's body. Shuichi-Kurama's voice became deeper and Trisha wondered if anyone else but her would notice the small changes to his facial features in the dimmed light. Trisha smiled politely.

"Hi." She greeted, trying to keep her blush under control. She _still_ remembered how he had nearly taken her whole the last night she saw him. She remembered how she had blatantly rejected him in favor of keeping Kurama's life less hectic.

"You've gotten more Muscular." He complemented. "Leaner…" He smirked here and she knew a lewd comment was about to escape his delicious lips. "Perfect for bearing and holding children…" He purred. Something about the thought of having children with this man turned her on and she shook her head free of the idea that she definitely wanted him as much as he wanted her.

_Stay calm stay calm stay calm! Friends… JUST FRIENDS! _She warned herself, and managed to get her bearings straight. She glared at Youko just then, and he smirked, as if he knew about her internal struggle and was entertained by her will to fight her natural urges.

"These arms are perfect for fighting too. Would you care to see what they could do?" She leered back, surprised with her own ability to talk smack right back at an opponent. Maybe these past few weeks she'd been hanging around Touya, Shishi and Hiei too much…

"Absolutely." Youko smirked but he seemed to still be on his dirty topic. She ignored him completely.

"Good. I'll whip you when my trainings complete." She smirked, her blue eyes challenging him very clearly. His face suddenly had an edge to it that accelerated her heart. He was _recognizing her skill_. He truly saw her as a worthy opponent. She loved his quiet complement.

"We will see who serves who during our next match. Until then, train hard." He smirked.

"Wait!" She stopped him as she saw Kurama's eyes start to slowly bleed back to green. The transformation stopped half-way and she continued speaking. "Have you been all right?" She asked, genuinely.

Youko/Kurama/Shuichi nodded and faded out back to Shuichi-Kurama who rubbed his forehead.

"Kurama?" She asked innocently. His eyebrows were pinched together as if he had a headache.

"Forgive me, it has been quite some time since I've had to push Youko through." He smiled a second later and Trisha realized he had healed his headache. If she hadn't _felt _the energy around his hand she would have never noticed.

"It's okay." She smiled and suddenly their food arrived. Trisha's two Sushi rolls were intertwined and looked like a dragon battling a snake. She noticed a tiny cat on the corner of her plate made entirely out of sushi, rice and nori. She squealed in delight and devoured that piece first. It was delicious! There was the perfect amount of soy sauce and just the right amount of spice on it for her taste. Kurama chuckled after swallowing a piece of grilled eel.

"You've been spending large amounts of time with demons recently, haven't you?" He queried, eyes twinkling with just a hint of a joke. Trisha blushed and bowed slightly at her seat.

"Sorry for being rude!" She apologized in a high-pitched, embarrassed whisper. Kurama chuckled again.

"No, no. You did nothing wrong. Most human girls would save the 'cute' piece for last." He explained. "It is a testament to your heritage that you took it first."

"Oh. Sorry I thought Hanging around Hiei had made me forget my manners." She laughed in relief and Kurama looked surprised.

"You've befriended Hiei?" He asked incredulously.

"Yeah, you just need to tell me his secret." She whispered, paranoid that the demon would hear her thoughts. Kurama rose a curious, red brow, his face completely serious.

"You don't know his secret?" He asked. She glared at him.

"No of course not! But I've been blackmailing him into doing things for me with his secret. But I don't know what it is. If he looks into my mind and finds out that I don't know it, he's going to be mad!" She blushed and gave the fox demon scion a watery-eyed look. Kurama gaped at her for a moment, then bursted out in laughter she had never seen from him. She stared at him as he laughed away in complete shock.

"_This is too humorous, Shuichi!" _Youko wheezed within said human's mind.

"_I can't believe she fooled Hiei into thinking she knew about Yukina!" _The human half exclaimed.

"_I told you I've picked the right one! She has the sharpness of a kitsune, Shuichi!"_

"All right…" Kurama chuckled once more and then let his laughter die, wiping the tears of mirth from his eyes. "You cannot reveal this under any circumstances." He commanded.

"Okay…" She agreed, now so curious she was leaning forward in anticipation.

"Yukina is Hiei's long lost sister. They are twins who were separate violently at birth. Hiei has done many terrible things in his life and is too ashamed to tell Yukina that he is the brother she searches for."

Trisha's jaw dropped and if her life were a cartoon, it would have hit the table and made the fine, modern china atop it rattle with its force. An image of Yukina flashed through her mind, and successively an image of Hiei appeared as well. She had NO idea how she _didn't _ notice it before, but they had the same face shape and eye color!

"W-W-wha— Kurama pressed a gentle finger to her lips, silencing her. He somberly shook his head. She grabbed his hand and pulled it away from her face, angry at the situation. "Bu she asks _everyone _to help her find him! That's so messed up!" She glared at Kurama, as if he were Hiei himself. "I'm gonna punch that little midget to America and back!" She snapped. "That's so cruel!"

"Hiei doesn't feel he has done enough good. Yukina is gentle in every aspect of the word. She sees him as a brother figure regardless, but he doesn't feel he deserves it."

"Family is family." She argued back. "Listen… my sister… when I was dating this one guy she… she slept with him… but even so! I still forgave her! She's my sister no matter how much hateful disgusting things she's done to hurt me or other people! I'm sure Yukina would think the same!"

Kurama sighed.

"You may have to be the one to tell him that and for that I wish you luck. Hiei is stubborn and listens to no one. He does things as he sees fit."

_Well… if I can make him go shopping for me… I can convince him that he's being stupid…_

"Okay. You let me worry about that, then." A determined look settled in her eyes and Kurama realized their faces had gotten so close during their hushed argument that he was only a few inches away from kissing her. Quickly, he pulled back and straightened in his seat. He was thankful that he didn't fall to his instincts. If Trisha did not like him in a romantic way, kissing her was a foolish idea. She came here for business to begin with and he had turned it around as a date on a whim, and probably embarrassed her as he did so. The last thing he needed was to be accused of forcing a kiss on her!

"_Oh relax Shuichi… your scents are both sexually compatible. I doubt she would refuse you if you really tried to persuade her…" _Purred his voice of evil. He could not disagree with the information, despite how he hated having it revealed to him. He and Trisha were on all accounts compatible, even biologically. His nose never lied. But she deserved to be wooed and dated and impressed like any other girl. His body was right. They were both ideal for reproduction, but his heart had a greater point: she deserved something normal and equally as romantic and wonderful.

"_Youko… she deserves a regularly progressing relationship." _He reasoned and heard the sigh of his counterpart.

"_Under usual circumstances I would disagree with you, but this time my allegiance is yours. I'd rather not frighten her away…" _

"_She is very independent, Youko. Such a serious commitment, so fast, may not be the best right now…" _

"_Mm… agreed."_

They continued eating in amiable silence, talking about Trisha's adventures at Genkai's house and Kurama's accomplishments at his step-father's corporation. Eventually they ordered desert and Kurama cleared his throat, figuring it was high-time he read the scroll his somewhat-sister had asked Trisha to deliver to him. He felt his date's eyes on him as he gently pulled the scroll out of his pocket and carefully unraveled Cevili's hair, and unwrapped the parchment.

_Dear, Youko-Kurama, my most cherished brother, it is my duty as the current head of the Northern Silver fox tribe to inform you; the legal, rightful second-in-command, that we have a meeting with the long-since-heard-from Eastern Silver fox tribe. Our cousin, Yukito, the head of the Eastern Tribe is requesting our presence at The Eastern tribe's anuual gathering to re-organize the treaties and agreements made between our clans centuries ago. He has claimed that the situation between his clan and ours has changed and due to these changes some new arrangements must be made. He has requested that we bring an honorary guest along, as clan-policies dictate. My heart tells me that Yukito's interests lie in forcing the Eastern tribe out of hiding to conquest other fox tribes; you are aware of how his personality functions. Please, as the honorary guest, bring the spirit detective woman… our ojou-sama. She may give us political leverage against Yukito and his followers. I deeply apologize as it is my sworn duty to protect the last flower maiden, however this situation is grave and I cannot think of any other options. Please, come to the Southern Fox tribe in thirty-one days. The meeting is to take place three days after your arrival. I look forward to reuniting with you again, nii-san. _

_-Your blood sister, Cevili-_

Kurama was frowning. It was never good when Kurama was frowning. She watched his concerned green orbs focus on one sentence and the curiosity was killing her. She wished he would just tell her what was up already!

"Trisha… I'm sorry, but I will have to ask you to do something dangerous for me." His face was absent of joy as he looked up at her and put the scroll down. She glanced at the lettering on the scroll, now that it was slightly visible to her. The symbols were different, as if they were the predecessor to ancient Japanese Kanji. She couldn't read it if she tried. She glanced back up at him, her expression a mirror image of his.

"I'll help you. What's up?" She deadpanned as their dessert was placed in front of them, forgotten in all its delicious glory in favor of the serious topic at hand. Kurama cleared his throat.

"This has some back story to it… You may want to finish your desert first…"

So she shoved spoonful after spoonful of sinful, creamy, green-tea ice cream into her mouth as quickly as possible— despite having lost her appetite— in favor of being serious. When she was halfway done she slapped her credit card on the table and peered around the room for their waitress. She made eye contact once she found her and nodded. Their server understood and skittered over to take the card.

She was about to pick it up off of the table when Kurama slapped some money over the card. Kimi was embarrassed and turned as pink as her kimono. How was she supposed to sort this out? She _hated _ being stuck in the middle of two independent people.

"Let me pay." The argument was instant from Minamino-sama. He was always the one who paid, anyway. Why wouldn't the girl just accept?

Was this a lover's tiff? Perhaps. She watched as Minamino-san and his date glared at each other in a cute, endearing way.

"I got this." Trisha spoke, certain of herself.

"No, no. The lady should never pay." Kurama politely argued back.

"That's really old school, _Shuichi…_" She put stress on his name just to bully him and get her point across.

"Cash is faster." Kurama grinned mckingly and slid his perfectly pressed, wrinkle-free bills towards Kimi who smiled in relief and took it. "Keep the change as usual, Kimi." Kurama nodded towards the girl who bowed deeply to them and thanked them for their service. Trisha shook her head and took her card back.

"Fine, fine. You win. But only because cash _is_ faster." She grumbled. Kurama gave her a victorious smirk and escorted her through the restaurant and outside.

"So, shall we go for a walk in the park as I explain the history of the Northern and Eastern fox tribes?" He queried, once they were on the sidewalk and in the hustle and bustle of Tokyo. Politely, he held out his elbow for her to take his arm. She nodded and obliged, squealing girlishly on the inside at his manners.

"It's not illegal to go to a park at night?" Trisha asked. Kurama shrugged in response, a small smile on his lips and she shook her head. He broke the rules because he knew he could get away with breaking them— another kitsune trait he had adopted undoubtedly from his other half.

"So these tribes?" She tried to get right down to the point and he shook his head yet again, a playful smile on his lips.

"Not yet." He half-chastised. "That can wait a little longer." And there was that endearing, mysterious half-smile that was such a trademark of his personality. She hated and loved it because it had the ability to quell any and all of her arguments.

_But I rushed to get out of there…_ She internally groaned only to herself , but let him lead the way anyway.

He took her around town and circled around a park, showing her landmarks and iron statues. They talked casually until finally they entered the park, which was lit by Victorian street lamps and surrounded completely by thick trees. The noise from the bustle of the city could not be heard at the heart of the park. It was a nice change from the constant wooshing and beeping of cars. Kurama picked a bench in front of a fountain with the statue of a beautiful young priestess at its center. Stone children in kimonos surrounded this priestess, some playing, others sitting quietly and listening to her read a book. Trisha smiled at the image as she took a seat next to Kurama on a curvy, iron-and-wood bench.

The redhead took a deep breath and exhaled. She felt the pressure of a long story exuding from his body.

"Long ago, the Eastern and Northern fox tribes were one." He began.

"How long ago exactly?" She asked for clarification.

"Before I was born. Thousands of years. Most likely much, _much_ before the human and demon worlds were separated." He answered, then continued explaining. "The Southern and Western Tribes were once one as well. But at this point in time there only existed the Northern and Southern kitsune tribes, which were constantly at war. The fighting continued until the human women became involved with the Northern tribe; they were the miko who bred half-demons and made them protectors of the flowers. When the humans became entwined in clan politics, they proposed a treaty between the two clans. During the gathering where the forging and signing of the treaty was to take place, all kitsune from the southern and northern tribes were present. It was agreed that the Northern tribe would continue in existence on its own and was to hide from the world for eternity. This was the half of the Northern tribe that detested humans and became elitists. They refused to accept that they could have a symbiotic lifestyle with the humans. They believed they could fight their natural enemies on their own; without spiritual aid from the miko. Are you following?" He questioned, stopping there to make sure she wasn't confused.

"Yeah, keep going; you have phenomenal story-telling capabilities." She only half-joked and Kurama grinned at her in humor as a response. He then held her eyes with his once more, serious the next moment.

"That 'elitist' half of the Northern tribe separated and became known as the eastern silver kitsune tribe. The treaty stated that if they fought any kitsune they would be killed immediately. They agreed to such extreme terms despite their pride. The Northern tribe that housed the humans and used them for protection; as well as protected their flowers and their vegetation was my tribe. It remained as the Northern tribe. We easily agreed to the symbiotic lifestyle the humans would provide for us. The southern tribe also split into two. Both halves agreed to cease warring against the Northern and Eastern tribes so long as they were allowed sanctuary in their territory should they ever need it. The western half believed they would be happier with more space and so they split from the Southern half with no bad blood. The Eastern part of the Northern tribe resented my parents and the other elders at the time for falling to such "human-worshipping atrocities" as they had called it, but they agreed to keep to themselves regardless. This treaty has been in place for hundreds and thousands of years. However, my cousin Yukito has now assumed power over the Eastern clan and demands a revision of the treaty, since humans are no longer involved with the Northern tribe. Cevili believes you should come to the annual clan gathering as an honorary guest of the Northern Clan. You may not be the most powerful opponent, but as a representative of Spirit World you hold much political power in demon world. It is also a massive reassurance that you are a flower maiden as well. My question is: are you willing to put yourself in danger by coming to demon world with me once more? Are you willing to deal with the level of politics this side trip will require?"

It didn't take long for her to respond.

"How long do we have until this 'gathering'?" She questioned.

"Thirty-one days. A month." He responded clearly, a concerned expression on his face.

"Then we're good to go. I'll be your back-up. By then I'll be strong enough to hold my own next to you should anything happen." She reassured.

Kurama smiled in relief.

"I trust that you will be able to." He complemented. "Thank you."

"No problem; now help me figure something out." It was her turn to be serious.

"Of course; how can I be of assistance?" He asked; genuinely concerned.

"I think Ren is kidnapping people who look like me." She spoke bluntly, capturing his surprise almost instantly.

"How did you come to this conclusion?" He asked calmly instead of calling her crazy, much to her relief.

"Are you familiar with Hagiri Kaname?" She asked.

"Sniper." Kurama's eyes narrowed as he remembered what that man did to Yusuke.

"Yes." Trisha ignored the tension in Kurama's shoulders in favor of explaining her comrade's situation to him. "His girlfriend, Mina, was kidnapped. Check her profile." She handed him her communicator with the email Sniper sent her of Mina's file. "What's more of a clue is the _way_ she was kidnapped. Sniper had a Spirit-security system in his apartment. Which means that when he set it up it read the energies of anyone and everyone who was in the apartment and recognized them as "safe" people. Those who entered without being a "safe" person were obliterated on the spot unless they knew a keyword. If you read his message below, only him and Mina knew the keyword. When Mina was taken it didn't look like a break-in-kidnapping. In fact, Sniper just thought his apartment was messy. But when he looked back at the facts, he knew something was wrong because a few things were knocked over and the window was opened. Sure enough, Mina never turned up after that."

"So you believe Ren did it beca—

"Because he's the only one who could have stalked them successfully, infiltrated the apartment and hid out when the security system was put up. He could have disguised himself as an object in the room and just waited. He could have been recognized as a "safe" person/energy when the system was put up while under the guise of a lamp or something. If he had set foot inside the place without being recognized or knowing the safe word he would have been vaporized and she would have been safe otherwise. Only a shapeshifter could pull an inside-kidnapping like that off."

"You may have a point." Kurama murmured as he looked at the picture of the missing girl. She looked almost exactly like Trisha. "She is eerily similar to you." He mentioned. "If you are similar physically it is not a stretch to assume she may have the percentage of blood that Ren needs to control the flowers, if he has any to control, that is…" Kurama theorized, trailing off in thought.

"Exactly." Trisha confirmed.

"But we don't know this for sure… I will keep an eye out for this woman. Perhaps some researching in Koenma's vast library will help as well." He supplied.

"Yeah I'll see if I can get in there too." She agreed and nodded.

"How has this been doing?" He picked up the lock of hair with the vine curled around it as a light change in topic.

"Oh, it's been fine. I feel it usually, but It doesn't bother me. I got used to it." She smiled. Kurama let her hair escape his hand and smiled back at her.

"It is a shame we're dressed nicely. I would like to spar you and see where you've grown."

Trisha giggled. "I could definitely avoid you; if that's what you're wondering." She supplied, thinking of how her water-style would be perfect at avoiding his rose-whip. He smirked to himself.

"Should I pay a visit in a few weeks to make certain of that?" He queried, making a move to solidify another obscure "date" with her without making it blaringly obvious.

"Yeah, you can, actually." She smiled. "I'd like that. I need a good challenge after I kick Jin's mile-high butt!" She grinned cheekily.

"Mm, Jin will be a hard one to beat." Kurama smiled; knowing his redheaded friends' antics.

"I'll beat him up." She spoke assuredly. "I'm sure I'll get owned in the process, but I'll do my best until I win, of course."

"I admire your determination." He shamelessly revealed. She blushed, but shrugged in a friendly manner.

"I've always been determined; I guess. Maybe not outwardly, but somewhere on the inside. I needed this kind of life style."

Kurama nodded. "I agree." It really was a fitting lifestyle for her to live. She was similar to him, mentally. They were both skilled, sought after, _special _in their own right and both lived double lives. What would she choose in the end, though? He had to wonder. Would she choose to stay in the human world and conduct a normal life or would she pick the demon world and live there? His own life could change drastically based on the answer to that question…

"_What will you do about mother if she chooses to live in the demon realm, Shuichi?"_

"_I cannot be certain…" _

Trisha yawned. It was late now and she was sleepy. The day's adventures had given her a headache and she was more than ready to go home.

"Would you like a ride home?" He asked perceptively.

"What? You have a car?" She queried curiously.

"A company car." Kurama corrected. "It will save you time; you look exhausted." He spoke with a frown.

She yawned again.

"Yeah sure. I'd appreciate it."

Kurama stood up and stuck out his hand, she grabbed it and they returned to the hustle and bustle of Tokyo. They walked a block past the now-closed restaurant and came upon a shiny, blue, BMW 5-series.

_That's some __**expensive **__company car… _Trisha marveled in her mind.

Kurama pulled a set of keys out from his pocket and unlocked the car. Without hesitation Trisha got in and relaxed into the expensive leather of the front passenger's seat. She clicked her seatbelt in, excited to be a passenger on the left side of the car. Most cars in Japan were right hand drive and manual. She watched Kurama drive and shift gears to some classical music playing in the background. He seemed at ease with life while driving; as if he were deep, deep in thought.

"_Kiss her." _

"_No."_

"_Kiss her."_

"_Absolutely NOT." _

"_Shuichi, just kiss her!" _

"_For the final time, NO!"_

She idly wondered what he was thinking about and turned to look out the window. The drive to the train station was relatively quiet but still enjoyable. Trisha found that Kurama's calming presence was much appreciated no matter what situation she found herself in with him. She did not notice when exactly she fell asleep, fatigued from her mission with Sniper and the thoughts of a political showdown with Silver Kitsune she thought did not exist with the exception of Kurama himself.

-X-

She awoke to someone gently shaking her bare shoulder.

"Mmmph… what?" She opened her eyes and immediately took notice of a casual spring jacket that was covering her. It belonged to a male, obviously. "Kurama?" She looked at the warm, calloused hand that rested on her shoulder hoping it belonged to him. To her delight the appendage was Kurama's. He was smiling at her gently; his lips curving into an expression that a parent would reveal to their child.

"We're here." His voice was low, as if he knew her brain was still trying to fully awaken from her short but peaceful nap.

"Oh. Sorry." She sat upright and caught the jacket as it slid off of her torso. "Thanks." She smiled warmly at him. "For everything." She clarified. He really had given her a memorable night.

"It is I who should be thanking you." As always he was cryptic and did not clarify what exactly he meant but she enjoyed his polite response regardless.

"I'll see you in a few weeks. I should be ready by then." Once again she became all-business, much to his distaste. Was he too late? Did she not see him in a romantic light anymore? Perhaps her attractions switched to another male? He quelled his worries; pushing them to the back of his mind.

"Yes. Until then." He took her hand and kissed the top. She giggled in response, a light pink hue to her cheeks.

"See ya." She exited the car just as the train arrived and was gone in moments. Somehow, he felt awful…

"_Perhaps a more direct approach is the better option in this situation, Shuichi…" _

"_Possibly…" _

-X-

Well that was a doozie to complete! More excitement coming up soon. Trisha's remaining training; "The Gathering"… Youko Kurama's cousin… Hiei… Heh heh… you guys are in for some exciting chapters! Review please! 

I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho. All rights reserved to Yoshihiro Togashi.


	28. Water

WEEDS CAN TURN INTO FLOWERS

|28|

Thanks for the reviews! Please write some more and if possible share this story! I got everyone's reviews! Even you, Guerrera.22!

-X-

It was the next morning, around 4:47 am. A light fog hung over the training field and early birds chirped almost in-tune with the crickets that were quieting from the night before. The clearing and wood just beyond Genkai's deck was still dark and only part of the sky was grey-green in the east where the sun would certainly rise. The crescent moon still clung to the darkness as if it were begging the sun for its fragile life.

On the earth below; Genkai was perched on her deck railing with a cup of tea, dressed in her usual training gear. Touya sat quietly with her, observing his two friends and their sixth tooth-and-nail battle since the wee hours of that morning. Female and male grunts resounded throughout the clearing with each calculated movement. Muffled thumps of muscle hitting muscle echoed in tune with the fighters' voices like a symphony.

The male ice demon watched with fascination as Trisha transitioned from evading to attacking in perfect, fluid motions. Her attire was boringly human: blue shorts, a simple white t-shirt and the "Nikes" he learned to realize were the shoes she often talked about— apparently their comfort was unprecedented. The rubber on the bottom of those shoes squelched atop the dew-covered grass as she spun on the ball of her foot to evade a perfectly-aimed punch from Suzuka.

After the successful evasive maneuver, she had plenty of room to backhand the blonde on the side of his face. His friend was certainly getting faster. He watched his blonde friend fly to the side, wondering how elegant grace could be coupled with such strength; all coming from a meager, human woman. Subsequently, he pondered what the most racist of his former team would think of her… Gama… the man who claimed humans bastardized the ancient art of makeup. What would he think if he met someone like Trisha who couldn't care less about the stuff, or whether he was human or demon?

-X-

Suzuka shakily stood up, his breathing labored. He and Trisha had been sparring since early morning. _Very_ early, by human standards. Trisha sounded equally exhausted, though he had to pay his complements where they were due; she certainly had amazing stamina.

-X-

Touya noticed that her arms were vibrating with a mixture of adrenaline and fatigue— a combination that was certainly drowning her brain, more than likely making it feel hazy and drugged, but sharp and instinctual. At least… that was how master Genkai said humans felt when they were in that state…

"I told you—" Suzuka paused to greedily suck in precious air. "— Not the face!" He hollered.

"Sorry! It was right there though, I had to!" She shouted back as she watched him run at her, a determined snarl on his usually elegant features. He threw another series of kicks and punches and after evading them she managed one final kick to his chest, careening him into a tree trunk at the edge of the training field. He slumped down, halfway to unconsciousness and the victory was promptly labeled hers. She ran towards him, not a moment wasted, with Genkai hot on her heels and collapsed to her knees next to his fallen form once she reached him. She held his limp hand in hers as Genkai immediately set to healing him.

"You've damaged him very well. Suzuka has impeccable defenses. You're finally getting somewhere; kid."Genkai complemented as Suzuka floated back towards the surface of full-consciousness. Trisha smiled and then grinned when the "beautiful" demon squeezed her hand and groaned.

"My head hurts…" He complained.

"Sorry Suzuka-kun." She soothed with a hint of comedy in her tone. "But you taught me a lot! Can I do anything to make it up to you?" She asked. After all, it was only fair. He got his butt kicked because he agreed to be her first opponent. She certainly owed him for his troubles. He laughed blearily.

"You're… the weirdest human… I've met, you know… When you get around to it… punch Shishi in his…. ugly face… don't let Genkai-sama heal him either…" He mumbled with a playful smirk and Trisha had to giggle.

"All right, you got it! I want you watching when it happens okay?" She asked gently. He nodded and sat up a moment later, fully healed.

"You really hit hard." He frowned. "I hope my nose is still as perfectly as usual." He glowered and rubbed the said body part with worry.

Trisha laughed again. That was Suzuka, all right. His soul could be halfway out of his body and he wouldn't care as long as he looked beautiful while dying.

"Suzuka, I think you should become a model." She suggested as the idea struck her mind. "It would suit you."

The man cocked an eyebrow and Genkai shook her head.

"I think his ego is big enough." The old woman grumbled. "Last thing he needs is women telling him that he's sexy and they want him."

Trisha laughed wildly and Suzuka cursed at Genkai, insisting that there could never be a limit to complements when you're beautiful.

"The complement would mean more if a man was saying it anyway! Who cares if a woman thinks I'm 'hot'." He sniffed, earning hushed chuckles from both women. Trisha helped him up, and trudged back to the deck, where Touya was stretched out atop a railing in a Hiei-esque fashion. He smiled at her as she came up the steps.

"Impressive. You improved greatly in two hours." He complemented with his trademark half-smile. Trisha yawned, tired as could be. She almost didn't feel like responding. Her head was swimming and she felt groggy or light-headed or something of the sort.

"Yeah; now I have to go and learn to hone my spirit energy." She pouted, feeling like she had zero energy to hone to begin-with. "Any tips?" She quipped curiously.

Touya smirked at her.

"I don't help my future opponents." He sniped with all the confidence of a fully-trained fighter.

She opened her mouth, mocking a 'shocked gasp'.

"Touya!" She huffed, pretending to be insulted. "Your abrasiveness is cruel." Theatrically, she placed the back of her hand on her forehead and faked almost-fainting at his 'atrocious' manners. He grinned at her and her sarcasm and she grinned back.

"I'll make you sorry for that." She stuck her tongue out at the ice demon a moment after her performance.

"Hmn. We'll see about that." Touya coolly responded, but Trisha could tell he was eager to fight her regardless. He had mentioned earlier that morning that he admired her ability to struggle and learn. He even seemed to silently cheer her on each time Suzuka had trashed her in their previous fights. She'd feel his icy eyes on her and when they locked gazes, the encouragement in his orbs fueled her to stand, despite the pain.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll see ya when I see ya." She smiled and turned on her heel to follow Genkai somewhere inside the temple.

"She's gotten quick." Suzuka mused as he trudged up the stairs, rubbing his cheek.

"A few solid hits from you taught her she can't afford injuries." Touya explained with a shrug.

"She still hit my face; Is it altered?" The blonde asked worriedly. Touya was almost tempted to tell him his nose was slightly askew but he refrained, not wanting to deal with the drama that would entail.

"You're fine." Touya reassured, but not before rolling his eyes. He then promptly disappeared to train in the surrounding forest before another word of protest escaped Suzuka's mouth.

-X-

Genkai took Trisha to a darkened room that had a shower, a bed and a kitchen in it. It was like a studio apartment but with a large, wooden floor the size of a football field as the entryway. The entire room was mostly dark and Trisha could not see the ceiling; nor the walls. The silence echoed throughout the room minutes after the large, brass double-doors shut behind them. It was like a separate world.

_I wonder if the walls are sound-proof… _She whispered in her mind as she tried in vain to see the ceiling. The tiny sconce on the wall opposite of the doors didn't have enough light in the blackness to reveal anything but the pseudo-apartment space in the room directly in its vicinity.

"We will be here for a week. Get comfortable." Genkai huffed in a hard tone of voice. "We're going to work on sensing, moving and controlling spirit energy as a whole. This entire training session is going to be experimental." She explained in her rough no-nonsense voice.

"Wait. What?" What did she just say? "You're going to try something new on me?" She asked, an incredulous look on her face. _I thought masters were supposed to have a 'tried-and-true' method with their students! What the _hell_!_

"In a sense, yes. I'm going to break down the concept of spirit energy and the control of spirit energy into a very general subject. My previous students had all excelled in knowing and controlling their own spirit energy. Your fighting style and everything I have taught you up to this point will aid you in being able to control not only your own spirit energy, but spirit energy in _general_. You will be able to direct and redirect spiritual attacks on a whim if you get good. It's like a mobile version of the spirit wave." The old woman explained in a soft voice.

Her mind was blown.

_I guess 'fire' and 'water' kinda make sense when you think about using the moves tandem with the energy around you… _

"Spirit energy flows through the body like water. If my theory is correct, then it flows around the body as well. Depending on your ability to sense energy, you will either excel at this or fail miserably. I will hide and you will find me in this darkness blind-folded. You will learn to fight me and many others without the usage of your eyes. You will have become attuned to spirit energy as a general thing and only then will you continue on to learn to master your own." Genkai explained. Trisha smirked. This was unexpected. Everyone she met up until this point was a master of their own massive energy system. It would definitely give her and edge to be able to shimmy their energy around as she saw fit during a fight.

_It might even surprise Youko… _She cheekily thought and minutely blushed at the thought of the silver-haired kitsune.

"Let's start." She eagerly responded. The last thing she wanted to think about right now was Kurama and how sexy his other half is. She needed to focus!

-X-

Kurama sat at his desk, reading a novel enthusiastically as Hiei was sprawled across his bed, studying the metal of his katana with a lack of enthusiasm that could only come from a bored swordsman.

"_Let's play a game, Shuichi!" _Youko enthusiastically suggested. Kurama knew where this was going and he had to internally sigh in disapproval. He _really _didn't want to put this book down.

"_Oh dear, Youko. I'm certainly enjoying this novel and I most definitely am not in the mood to aggravate Hiei." _He responded to the other half of his soul wih complete honesty as usual.

"_Shuichi, you and I both know the main character's best friend is the murderer. How else would the story end? We've read countless 'novels'— if you can even call them that— that have the same mundane plot and end similarly!" _The fox thief argued, his exasperation blunt and straightforward. Kurama chuckled at the statement. Youko was never so vocal about his opinions on matters he deemed 'petty' such as books; at least not in public and Kurama, though amused, was more honored to be the only one the fox thief bantered with about the simple things in life.

"_Now what makes you believe this one will end up like the others?" _He queried curiously, just for good measure. _"We only know that the murderer of this novel treats his female victims differently." _Would the infamous Youko Kurama make a good modern detective due to his experience in thievery and murder?

"_And that is enough information to conclude that he only likes to murder young, adolescent girls. The others are merely cover-ups. Assuming this is the most probable theory based on what little information we've been given; pray tell Shuichi… who is the only other known character in the novel that is exposed to the presence of young females?" _The fox thief chastised, completely exhausted with Shuichi's feigned lack of foresight. He was tired of his human half's growing interest— or obsession, whatever it may be— in murder novels. It was a fad of Shuichi's for the time being... Two years ago it was medical texts; the next fad after that was business how-to's and now this. He was growing tired of the repetition of a single subject. In mysteries, it was always the most innocent character that had the darkest stains on his or her soul. Human authors were truly boring in that respect; _mundane_.

Youko preferred translucent villains, who named themselves and left behind a distinctive mark. They were the ones that became legends, much like himself. Shuichi had only read one novel of such— A piece from their angel's home country of 'America'— it was labeled 'Zodiac' and modeled after a real murderer that had yet to be found to the present day. The novel was so entrancing Youko wanted to hunt the human himself; probably an old man by now… or woman— after all, who was to say a woman could not accomplish such thought-out purposeful and elusive murders? Regardless; Youko's fascination with murder mysterious among the modern human generation ended with that novel. Put plainly; everything else was imp dung and he'd rather tempt fate with Hiei's darkness flame than sit through another thirty chapters of absolute, tedious, _failure_.

"_The detective's best friend, who works as a gym teacher in the local high school." _Shuichi finally responded._ "You make a good point, but none of the girls who died attended that school…" _

"_Killers are not fools, Shuichi." _If he were to kill young females (after ravaging their bodies first of course) he would do so in a manner where the murders could not be patterned or traced back to him. That would mean traveling far… very far… for each kill. Really; it was very difficult to be a natural predator in this world, but humans had their own ways of getting past those who would undoubtedly come after them.

Kurama sighed. He was really starting to enjoy the novel, too…

"_Very well, Youko. I concede."_

"So, I've heard you went shopping at the mall; Hiei." He then sniped with accuracy, while closing and placing his book back on his mahogany desk. Hiei's aura darkened minutely, but the fire demon seemed calm enough.

"Shut it, kitsune." Came the ruffled reply; half-mumbled in embarrassment.

It was clear he didn't want to talk about it. Kurama chuckled, but decided not to press the matter.

"Very well. How is Trisha doing?" He asked instead, successfully diverting Youko's need to annoy and prod Hiei; replacing it with the act of accruing information about the woman he—_they—_ were attracted to.

"I don't know."

The doomsday aura dissipated and Kurama cocked a curious, red brow. The transparence in the fire demon's tone suggested that he honestly had no news of the brunette that was constantly on Kurama's mind. Truth be told; if Youko gleaned the ability to telepathically insert himself into others' mind's he'd undoubtedly read Trisha's thoughts constantly.

"You don't know?" He asked, in surprise as he realized that even if Trisha was behind sealed doors, he should be able to see into her thoughts. Hiei usually knew things that way; he not only lurked around Genkai's temple, making sure Yukina was happy and observing every interaction of Genkai's resident demons, but also because he kept tabs on his comrades with his Jagan.

"No. I leave her alone." He clarified, short and to the point as always.

"That's… different." Kurama frowned. It was certainly a rare occurrence for Hiei to be unwilling to see into someone's mind or life.

"Hn." The noise was dismissive. Kurama wouldn't know why unless Hiei told him himself.

He could feel the curiosity stirring in his chest— a side effect of his demonic counterpart's feelings.

"_Perhaps Hiei has established a camaraderie_ _with her…" _Youko mused.

"_Perhaps."_ Shuichi agreed. _"I believe if Trisha really wanted to, she could become friends with a gold fish…" _

Youko chuckled. The comment was meant for comedy, but it held a degree of truth the former thief could not disagree with. She befriended demons almost naturally; as if it were something she was born to do. He frowned, hoping Shuichi couldn't sense him doing it. He had a sudden urge to see the woman… and perhaps enjoy her squirming in his presence after a comment or two of his…

"_Shuichi… would it be possible to see her sooner than planned?" _The question seemed vulnerable and surprised the human half of their interesting conglomerate of souls. Youko may not have noticed, but he truly missed Trisha's company. As Shuichi thought deeper on the subject, he noticed that Youko often commented on the girl's mind and theorized on how she processed things. The fox demon was fascinated with her on an intellectual level that even he himself— a eloquent as he always was— could not fully describe with words.

"_I wouldn't risk Genkai's temper. If she said 'not until the appointed time', then that undoubtedly means no sooner or later than _the _appointed time; Youko…" _He responded with regret.

The fox demon released an impatient sigh, but he couldn't argue with his human half's logic.

"You're curious about the detective woman often…" Hiei smirked, taking a deliberate shot at his best friend as vengeance. _Hn… this is for trying to embarrass me, fox…_

Kurama smirked at Hiei's attempt to goad him. This verbal bantering was certain to turn into a fruitful training session…

-X-

Week three. She had managed to fight every single person Genkai brought into the room. She was attuned to energy in a general sense, but for the life of her she couldn't tap into someone else's energy and _shift _it to suit her battle purposes. Genkai was disappointed, but not surprised. At one point during one of their "blind" spars, Trisha pulled off her blue blindfold and threw it to the ground, frustrated.

"I see your energy coming but I can't move it so it doesn't hit me!" She shouted as she dodged a spirit-energy-coated fist. Genkai abruptly stopped; the energy around her hand dulled until it was as still as the old woman herself.

"Try molding your energy into a shield around you. Harden or soften it as you need to. Eventually your opponent's energy will bounce off of your energy."

The instruction was spoken as if it required a shrug of the shoulder.

_How could she just say that like it's 'whatever'!? _

She must have made a face because Genkai chuckled.

"You'll get it eventually; probably in a life or death situation. You're aware of energy in general, so let's begin on honing yours. I will teach you a few attacks, but after you learn how to gather and flow your own energy you'll probably just be able to make your own attacks up as you go. I expect you to excel at this, and quickly too."

They sat down for some more theory.

-X-

She really sucked. She only learned a single attack by the end of that last week. It was the spirit gun. The most basic of attacks, according to Genkai. She was meditating, trying not to feel dismal about her abilities as a spirit detective when a knock sounded on the door. Genkai's near-nonexistant footsteps padded over to the door and opened it. Yukina's voice and energy reached her senses.

"Genkai-sama, It is time. Also; Kurama-san is here. He wishes to evaluate Trisha." She spoke in her usual, gentle tone. The kindness in Yukina's voice was lost to the chaos that triggered in Trisha's mind.

_Wh-What!? I look like hell! What's he doing here! Oh my God! I have to fight him! _She panicked and nearly started crying. _I have to fight him and I _still_ suck! I'm screwed! We're going to go to demon world and I'm…I'm screwed! The most I can do is flare my energy and hope I _look_ threatening! I'm— this is going to be so embarrassing… _

But her training had taught her to play with the cards she'd been dealt. Just as she was about to steal herself and go to get her butt thoroughly kicked, Genkai held a hand up, keeping her in her place.

"Tell him to wait and bring Hiei, please. We still have three days." Maybe Genkai _felt _her panic and relented on her. Maybe God was protecting her, but whatever it was, the relief of more time made her feel like there was a light shining down just on her, despite the darkness they were basked in.

Five minutes later, as she was practically on her knees hugging Genkai and thanking her for her mercy, Hiei walked in, mad as all hell with two swords in hand. He didn't even greet her. He mumbled something about hating to train humans; not wanting to deal with another 'Kuwabara' and burning the world down if he got annoyed even once. He seemed aggravated, but got right down to business. He tossed her a katana that didn't look as steady as his own. It must have been procured on-the-fly due to the urgency of the situation. She caught it and nearly dropped it. He glared viciously at her and she corrected her hold on the object.

"S-Sorry." She apologized awkwardly. Swords really weren't her thing and she didn't even really know if she could get good with one in just three days.

"Hn. Let's begin."

The first five hours were spent on the history of swords, the honor of swords and a crash course in the basic forms of holding a sword and swinging a sword. She had taken math classes that we more fun than being at Hiei's mercy but somehow she strived to achieve his respect, always doing her utmost best when he asked her to mimic his actions.

Once the movements were ingrained well enough into her mind, he had sparred with her the entire last day. And if you were wondering; no… she couldn't beat him; not once. He had grunted his usual noncommittal sound, told her she was pathetic after she got her sword broken and left once his time was done. She wanted to cry. Her hands were achy and full of blisters, she was exhausted and hadn't gotten as far as she wanted to. The worst part was that she _wasted her time_.

"Are you just going to sit there and cry?" Genkai harshly intoned as she came into view.

"I… I didn't get far enough!" She cried. "I have to be Kurama's back-up! If I screw up—

"You've been here for only a month. Do you have any idea how much progress you've made? You started with close to nothing and you haven't relied on your demon blood at all. If I hear your complaints again I'm going to start considering them insults. When you're done on your little side-trip I'm expecting you back here bright and early. I'm not done whipping you into shape yet." Genkai started off strong, but ended with a proud smirk. Something in her expression made Trisha feel better, as if her expectations of herself were merely too high, and she nodded, rose to her feet and hugged Genkai—squeezed her actually— and caused the old woman to chuckle.

"Keep that up and I'll drop dead right now." She joked, but Trisha looked horrified.

"Don't say that!" She frowned.

"Kid, I'm old; I can make as many jokes about death as I want, trust me." She softly replied.

Her frown didn't drop as they walked out of the training room together, and outside to the training area where Jin, Touya, Chu, Rinku, Suzuka, Shishi, Yukina, Hiei and Kurama were standing around talking and catching up. As soon as she neared them, all conversations stopped. Trisha blushed. Every demon, in the clearing and those she could sense in the trees _around _the clearing had their eyes on her. Self-consciously, she picked at a loose thread on her white t-shirt. Kurama smiled at her, handsome as usual; dressed in a pair of black sweats, sneakers and a white t-shirt that seemed a little tight around the muscles on his arms. He stepped away from the crowd and approached her with confident ease.

_I can't beat him… I suck at spirit energy stuff… _She groaned to herself. Her eyes momentarily locked with Hiei's and he fire demon glared at her as he unfastened his sword. Before she could continue studying him Kurama bowed to her. Awkwardly, she shifted her attention to the redhead and bowed back.

"Let's see how far you've come…" He spoke evenly when he was done bowing. She gave him a weary look, noting the mischief that twinkled in his green eyes— a clear sign that he and Youko were getting along rather well today.

_That's even worse. Kurama is one thing… but Youko is another beast entirely! … Together they're unstoppable. All my friends are going to laugh at me. Even Hiei said I'm pathetic! _

Speaking of the fire demon, he appeared in front of her, a glare set on his face. He held out his sword to her and Trisha gasped. It was his most prized possession… was he _offering_ it to her?

"Hiei?" She queried, lost.

"Hn. Take it, human. We'll get you your own later." He nudged it towards her and her eyes slid to Kurama who seemed to be looking at them with a soft fondness in his eyes.

Was he happy that Hiei was becoming better friends with her? Scratch that— with _anyone? _

She stopped trying to psychoanalyze her opponent. Kurama was a puzzle that wasn't easy to solve. Hesitantly, she took Hiei's sword. As soon as her fingers touched the sword, she felt Hiei's energy slightly poke hers with a gentleness she didn't think his demon energy would be capable of.

_You don't have to win. You have to _survive_. You _know_ how to survive. _

She was sure she heard those words in Hiei's tone _right inside her head_. She looked at him strangely, but he only nodded and disappeared. She spotted him next to Yukina a moment later.

"Interesting… It appears Hiei trusts your kenjutsu enough to lend you his sword…" Kurama murmured quietly, though his eyes never faltered in their excited twinkling.

_I don't even freakin' know _why_! I screwed this whole training month up! _

"Let's just get on with this…" She cautiously stated, strapping the sword to her side.

_What does he mean I know how to survive? What the _hell _Hiei!_

She thought back to every crazy test Kurama had put her through before her training with Genkai. She thought about every crazy trip to demon world. She thought about every insane game of cat and mouse she had ever played with Ren… She _was_ good at surviving. Hiei was right in every way. She wasn't dead yet, _despite_ how many close encounters she has had with demons who have wanted to kill her. For God's sake she had even nursed the King of all Demon-thieves back to health in a hostile environment! She was not going to go down so easily. Hiei wanted to tell her to be confident. He wanted to encourage her in his own backwards way. He was so, utterly right she actually shuddered and laughed out her stress. She didn't have to _win_ against Kurama. She only had to show him that he couldn't kill her so easily.

She took the opening stance to "water", ignoring Kurama's confused look in response to her laughter.

"Your stance is soft." Kurama smirked as he took his own opening stance. Daringly, she _smirked_ at him.

"Care to find out if the ground is as soft as my stance, Kurama?" She taunted, _bravely. _Very bravely. She kind of had this feeling, based on everyone else's expressions that not many people taunted or talked back to Kurama during a fight… Even Touya looked surprised. Jin flipped around in the air. If a normal person saw him they'd probably pass out or look for wires and a harness. Regardless, he seemed exuberant for the upcoming fight and even cheered her on, giving her some words of encouragement.

_Relax… Kurama's a smart man. He fights with his brain. He'll probably try to trick me more than he'll honestly try to fight me… _

Genkai was suddenly upon them. Trisha wasn't surprised, she had felt her coming and smiled at her own sensory skills.

_Depress my energy… just focus on his… _She closed her eyes and zeroed in on Kurama's energy. It had a soothing, green, almost _minty_ feel to it. But that minty energy could either be the greatest relief or the greatest suffering. He was a healer, after all. He had perfect control of his energy. That kind of flow and control was amazing when applied to healing, but terrifying when applied to battle. It could save or it could kill. She shuddered as she felt as if her life was in his hands. If he took her seriously, it probably would be… She was still so, so far from his level…

_Don't be a fraidy-baby… _

"Go!" Genkai's aging voice echoed throughout the clearing and her own eyes flew open, glaring at her opponent in determination.

Kurama… Kurama _disappeared. _

_He's fast… _

She sensed him behind her and spun around.

WHAM! She blocked a low side-kick by bringing her knee up and using her left shin to block. She smirked at his shocked, wide-eyed expression.

… _But he's not fast enough… Thanks for at least teaching me how to move quick, Hiei… _

-X-

"_She easily transitioned from a defensive stance to an offensive stance! She _will_ follow through with another hit, Shuichi!" _

Wrong. Youko's prediction was completely wrong. Trisha, like water or like a snake, gracefully back-flipped to put distance between them, dusting her clothes off, thus dusting off the seed Kurama tacked onto her shirt. The seed would have sprouted into vines that would have tied and disabled her, but that plan of action was now void. She was fighting intelligently.

"_She is utilizing what she knows of us, Youko."_ He commented to his other half._ "Impressive. Shefelt our hesitance to attack and used that opportunity to put distance between us. She has learned a lot…" _

"_I find her ability to sense the faintest bit of our spirit energy in that seed impressive." _Youko commented back. _"Let's see how her sensory skills will aid her in evading our rosewhip…" _

-X-

_Crap! He pulled out the rosewhip! Should I use the sword? No! The whip is too fluid! I have to use water-style! _

She exhaled deeply so her body wouldn't tense up. Water took absolute confidence and relaxation. She was confident with water.

_Confident. _

-X-

Kurama smirked. Trisha's eyes were determined. He noted that he found that beautiful before he lunged forward and hurled the tip of his whip at her. Expertly, she twisted out of the way a fraction of a second before the whip touched her. She took a single, confident step forward, then dodged the next strike, and took another step forward. Try as he might, it was difficult for him to cut her. Frustrated, he tossed the whip aside. It was useless. Trisha always seemed to need a more forward approach.

-X-

_Why? Why'd he throw his whip aside. I have to be careful. He could still transfer his energy to it… in fact his energy is _still_ in it. He could still use it against me so I'll have to dance around it to avoid it... I wonder if he knows that… _

Kurama rushed her and tried to get inside of her guard. She refused to let him, sticking to "water".

_Tire yourself out, Kurama… you can't have _that _much stamina… Water doesn't take a lot of energy out of me so be my guest please… _

For a while, it was a game of cat and mouse as he attacked and she dodged.

-X-

"_This is a waste of time." _Youko growled.

"_She must attack to win, no?" _Kurama sounded breathless in his mind, even though he wasn't allowing himself to appear tired outwardly.

"_Then we must make her attack. Feign a false opening for her to attack. Wait for her to strike. Put her down then." _Youko muttered darkly. The fox thief didn't appreciate stubbornness in battle. He also hated elusive opponents. They were the most dangerous. After all, how could one defeat an opponent that would not allow him or herself to be caught?

"_Agreed. Let's take it easy, though, Youko. This is only a training exercise…" _Kurama worriedly reminded. Youko was getting a bit too serious for his liking.

-X-

Trisha twisted, twirled, evaded and escaped Kurama's precise attacks, avoiding the subtle shots of energy that flew off his body: his attempt at weaving a web of weeds for her to become entangled in. Suddenly, she saw him falter… he slowed, his muscles becoming tired. She smirked. It was a wide opening. He was switching from his right fist to his left fist. As a result of putting one hand down and the other up, there was a split second where his chest was exposed. She switched to fire in that second, using the momentum of whirling away from his last attack to spin and throw a punch that would knock the air out of his lungs.

She smirked.

But he chuckled just a moment later.

Suddenly she was horrified. He only _pretended _to be tired! She was moving too fast to stop herself!

_No!  
_Kurama grabbed her fist, and flung her face-first into the ground as he gracefully stepped to the side, allowing her body to collide with the grass below.

She felt the pressure on her right wrist increase as he moved to swing his entire body on top of hers.

_No! You won't _sit _on me! Hell no! _

Crrrrrraaaaack! She dislocated and fractured her wrist as she whirled out of the way, scraping her face on tiny pebbles from being so flat against the ground. Kurama landed on the soft grass on both knees, eyes wide and in shock as he watched her flip herself up on all fours, her breaking, creakin wrist still entrapped in his fist. She screamed as she straightened her body out into a standing position, taking him up off his knees with her by the mangled joint. She was breathing heavily, and tears were slowly trickling out of her eyes from the pain, but she remained determined; as if her life and survival depended on this battle.

His expression darkened. She was serious. Maybe she was still a little green and knew she couldn't defeat him. However… she was set on avoiding his attacks during the entirety of their battle. He had the urge to heal her now swelling wrist, but this was a battle and she was his opponent and she was _asking _him in her own silent, pleading way to be as serious with her as she was being with him. She _wanted_ to know where she was at in skill level compared to him.

_This is what I can do, Kurama. No more games… Show me where I am… show _me _how far I've come… please… _

As if reading her thoughts he nodded and flared his energy.

Those seeds he dropped… yeah… they _all _sprung to life! Vines whipped about and it was all she could do to wrench her wrist free and dodge them all. They clawed and grabbed for her and pathetically, she drew Hiei's sword with her left hand, since her right wrist was out of commission. She dodged, sliced, ducked, hacked, slashed, and twirled, all while avoiding Kurama's precise strikes. It was certainly _not _easy to avoid both him _and _ his plants. No wonder his opponents were so weary of him. He was absolutely _crazy good _in a fight!

-X-

"Master Genkai, does this mean Trisha has fully mastered the 'water' style you've taught her?" Touya asked as he curiously observed Trisha and Kurama's spar. He smirked to himself, thinking that the spar looked more like an elegant, ancient dance due to how gracefully both fighters moved.

"Hmph." Genkai smirked. "Excellent question. To answer it; no she hasn't. She won't until she learns how to manipulate her opponent's spirit energy. She may know how to dodge and move like water, but it will only go so far. She is human and she has a certain figure given to her by nature. She cannot bend her bones like actual liquid. That is why this elusive style requires a mastery over spirit energy as a whole."

"So in certain situations it will be impossible to simply move out of the way…" Touya mused.

"Correct. In those situations, when neither attacking or defending or dodging will work she must be proficient in _manipulating_ her surroundings. If she cannot do that she cannot be called a 'master' of anything." Genkai sagely provided. "But she is original; I'll give her that. I've yet to see a fighter move like she does. In that case; her training was a success, though she still has eons to learn."

"In essence her true strength and mastery over her training will flourish in a life-or-death scenario…" Touya murmured.

"Hopefully not. But knowing how stubborn that girl is, I think that might be the case. It'll take a serious head-shot to get her to snap into action. The theory and knowledge is ingrained in her mind… but the practice is not…"

"Willbotho'ya_shutup!?_ LittleTrish-ygirlwon't dielikethat! Iwon'tlet'er!" Jin shook his finger at both Touya and Genkai, who chuckled.

Of _course _Jin would be the uplifting one, despite the reality of the situation.

-X-

Their battle came to a standstill once all of Kurama's vines were cut.

"You should give in." The redhead wisely advised. "I have many seeds left and more than enough spirit energy to defeat you."

"Not…" She huffed. "..A chance… Kurama…"

_I can't go on much longer. I tried to tire him out but I ended up tiring myself out… not to mention my wrist is freakin' on fire! Maybe I should just trick him the way he tricked me… _

She took a deep breath and lunged at him. His entire body tensed, expecting her. Just as she neared him, she feinted to the right, thanking God in all his glory that she did, because a large, thorny plant sprung up from the ground in front of Kurama; acting as a shield. She cartwheeled around the large pillar of dangerous green and twirled around his successive jab.

He was so close she could smell his sweat and musk. It was time.

"EAT THIS!" She placed both palms flat on his chest and shoved him so hard he stumbled before he backflipped to put distance between himself and her. By the way his chest heaved she could tell she managed to wind him. He looked at her in shock, then smirked. They locked fists again.

"_Shall we distract her Shuichi?" _

They twirled and twisted, always just out of reach of each other, yet so close they could feel each other's heat. Kurama wasn't tired, but Trisha was satisfied to see he was sweating at least lightly. She was growing impatient, frustrated and exhausted. Each hit or dodge was coupled with an annoyed grunt.

"You'll have to try harder if you want to succeed…" He whispered as he dodged a kick to his ribs.

Her rare temper flared. She was _not _in the mood for his insults. She roared again and lunged at him, forsaking any and all grace in her movements, content to end their tooth-and-nail fight with a loss on her part if she had to.

Her random burst of anger managed to surprise him. She tackled him to the ground, laughing in exhilaration, but then, screaming in defeat when he kept her momentum going, then used it against her as he flipped and pinned her to the ground, effectively pinning her with his own body. She took greedy gulps of hair, mercilessly exhausted; her breath from her exhalations tickling the short strands of his disheveled, wispy bangs. She watched a trickle of sweat traverse the path of his hairline on his temple. His eyes were wide and his cheeks were red upon looking at her tired, disheveled body.

"_Should I…?" _He dared not finish that sentence in his mind. Everyone was watching. He was sure that if they weren't so far from the others at this point, most of the demons in the crowd would hear his human heart hammering in his chest. He prayed his sexual attraction to his friend didn't reveal itself physically. That would be most embarrassing.

"End!" Genkai's declaration ended their close moment and the pressure of Kurama's warm (sexy) body was gone. Somehow, she missed his heat… the weight of his muscled, heavy form was comforting atop hers. She quickly squished those thoughts before they bloomed into anything more. Kurama was just a friend! She subsequently clambered to her feet, and called out in pain, remembering her dislocated wrist and now, sprained ankle.

Kurama caught her by her left arm and slung her over his shoulder, quietly, tensely.

Was he disappointed in her impatience?

_Who cares, I am too. I'm in so much pain, though… Please put me down… my ankle feels broken, Kurama…. _

"We still have three days before the gathering I can still train for another two before we really have to go…" She grumbled as he helped her walk over to the porch, picking up Hiei's sword and sheath and tossing it over to the small fire demon on his way there. She watched the other demons disperse as she waited for his response.

"You should use those three days to rest. You've been training relentlessly this last month and the fatigue you're experiencing is noticeable. You're formidable, but you'd be even more so if you allowed yourself to rest and practiced at the pace your body wants you to."

"So you're saying I need to take a break, and then train after the trip to demon world." She spoke flatly, obviously disappointed.

"Precisely. Well done, however. I am impressed with your agility. It is not often a normal person's stamina holds out against mine." He complemented with a relieved smile. A large part of him absolutely detested fighting her seriously. It hurt his heart to have to put himself in the mindset to seriously hurt and injure his loved ones. It reminded him of that night Youko and Sevili massacred their clan… He almost shuddered at the memories of fire and death…

"Th-thanks…" Came her surprised reply. His smile widened. She liked his complements.

_No way! He complemented me! Oh my God yes! _

She hobbled over to the porch faster, eager to be healed. Kurama set to work on her mangled wrist and Genkai silently tended to her ankle and checked the rest of her body. Slowly, but surely her breathing evened out and the adrenaline pumped out of her system. By the time Genkai and Kurama were done healing her she was left feeling exhausted and satisfied, her body mildly throbbing all over— the sign of a good work-out.

"Kurama would have killed you if he really wanted to. Keep in mind that your opponents will use their demon or spirit energy against you." Genkai chastised harshly, shooting Kurama a 'next-time-make-that-clear-yourself' look.

"Of course… Genkai-shisho." Trisha warily responded. She was aware that Kurama held back to an extent. He even warned her that he was nowhere near his end point and that she should give up. In truth she should have just conceded, but she was angry and hopped up on adrenaline that moment and wanted to release her anger. What she should really work on is her mentality during battle. Losing her cool would work against her; as Kurama had proven to her by winning. He had riled her up, she had lost her composure and he had taken advantage of the moment. It was a simple tactic but she was at the end of her wit by that point and if she were in his position she would have used it right at that specific moment herself. It was amazing what words could do to an opponent when said at just the right time.

"Enlighten me, Trisha…" Kurama started off. Trisha glared at him; aware of the impending joke just by the mischievous tone he used. "Was the ground as soft as your stance?" He smirked in response to the acidy look she shot him.

"Not as soft as your face after I punch it in!" Trisha threatened back, blushing in embarrassment. A second later she laughed it off. "Good one though… sorry about that remark, but I had to get my confidence up somehow, you know? You're pretty intimidating…" She defended herself as Genkai moved to walk inside the temple, leaving the two alone. Kurama chuckled.

"I won't argue that reasoning. You're entitled to help yourself." He stood and helped her up. She smiled, noting that she was now not in any pain. She stretched and exhaled, noting that she desperately needed a shower.

"I need to shower and get ready." She frowned.

"As do I. We leave afterwards." Kurama informed.

"Wh-What!?" She shrieked. "I thought we had three whole days!"

Kurama chuckled at her wide-eyed expression.

"We do. But those three days will be spent with Sevili in the demon world. There is much to go over and prepare. Besides, you want to smell a bit like demon world anyway. If your scent is too _human,_ for lack of a better word, you will attract unnecessary attention." Kurama explained.

"Oh… Yeah that makes sense. All right, well I'll meet you after breakfast then!" She waved and ducked into the temple. This was going to be the start of an arduous task… she could already feel it. She would rather train infinitely than go to a dangerous world and become a temporary diplomat.

_Oh well… you do what you gotta do… _

-X-

Hey… Hey readers… pssssst! WHAT DOES THE FOX SAY!?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA Did anyone else think of Youko when that video went viral? I certainly did. Geez, it took me SO long to finish this chapter. There was so much editing so much double-checking and so much splicing and cutting and adjusting. UGH! Forgive me if it's a little messy.

SO!

DO tell me what you think of it. It was absolute _murder _to write! What do you guys think will happen at the Gathering? Because I'm excited to write it and I wanna hear what you guys are guessing lol maybe it'll inspire me to tweak what I already have in mind!

QUESTIONS!

Q: If you could die and be detoured to any manga/anime/video game universe, which universe would you send yourself to and who would you build yourself to become in that universe?

Yu Yu Hakusho belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi and funimation and all that. All rights reserved. I own nothing and make no money writing this fic. Duh.

See ya later, Space Cowboy!

-X-


	29. Politics

|WEEDS CAN TURN INTO FLOWERS|

|28|

|Congratulations to my phenomenal reader and reviewer: **verry-chan**! You were my 200th review! I want to thank every single one of my readers and reviewers warmly. If it weren't for you guys, I wouldn't have continued this story. Now it has grown to be one of the top KuramaOC stories on the Yu Yu Hakusho section of fan fiction. Let's get to 300 reviews! If you guys feel like my writing and my story is worth it please take me to that number! I'm counting on you!|

-X-

After her shower, Trisha hurriedly dressed in a pair of grey sweatpants that gathered at her calves, a white tank top and purple and yellow Nike's. She left her hair loose to dry faster and ran down the stairs and outside to meet Genkai and Kurama at the mouth of the portal. The swirling vortex gave her a mild headache that put a frown on her feminine face but she sucked it up and shot Kurama a smile anyway. He was dressed in a green and white Chinese-style fighting outfit. With his hair short he looked like a foreign warrior from some fantasy world. The two hugged Genkai goodbye and stepped through the tunnel, only to end up in a den-like area that looked like it came straight from a fairy tale.

The floor and walls were hollowed out and round, made entirely out of grey stone with tiny flecks of diamond and sapphire imbedded in them. Covering those walls were beautiful, olive-green vines on which blue and yellow flowers thrived. In one corner of the area, the entire floor was covered in gold and silver coins, fine silks, and jewels, all of which seemed to flow out of an ancient, oak chest. In certain areas of the den, large flat rocks rested, and were covered in leaves as if to function as beds or tables. In the very center of the area was a large hot spring in which steam rose out of and exited through a hole in the ceiling that was sparsely covered in vines and flowers, filtering most of the light from outside. With the dim glow of the external sunlight and the many sconces alight with fire lining the walls, the objects in the den reflected off of each other, covering the entire area with fleeting sparkles of light.

Trisha stared at the place, open-mouthed just as Sevili, dressed in a white and gold kimono that exposed one of her long, creamy, legs and pooled around her shoulders and full breasts, came into her line of sight.

"Ojou-sama. Nii-san." Sevilli greeted and bowed. Her hair was pulled back in a tight, but intricate up-do and her bangs framed her small, angular face on both sides, making her beautiful gold eyes pop.

"Oh my gosh, Sevilli! You look beautiful!" Trisha commented and the fox demoness smiled warmly.

"It is good to see you, Cevili." Kurama smiled politely, but his "sister" wouldn't have any of that. She greeted him with a hug.

"It is nice to see you too, nii-san. However, I would appreciate it if you could return to the village for a while. There is much to be done here." She spoke apologetically. Kurama seemed to understand and nodded. He waved at a confused Trisha and left down a dark hallway that was dimly lit with sconces of fire every few feet. To Trisha, it seemed as if Sevilli was asking him to leave to have some girl-time. Subconsciously that made her nervous and as a result, she tensely tugged on and fiddled with her damp hair as Cevili walked up to her.

"So…. What's going on?" She asked, hoping she didn't sound awkward.

_I'm really not good at girly things… _

Cevilli chuckled, knowingly.

"Please, relax. I can smell your distress." She replied apologetically, as if her words were meant to tease good naturedly and not embarrass.

Trisha turned tomato red but took a deep breath to calm down.

"Sorry." She bashfully apologized.

Cevilli shook her head and motioned for her to follow as she walked over to the treasure chest.

"As an honorary guest of the Northern clan there are certain regalia you must be adorned with before you go to the Gathering. To arrive in any other way would be rude and could start an unintentional war." The fox demoness explained.

"I see…." And so, it dawned on her. Duh. This was a traditional event. She was going there because she works for Spirit World. She gave Youko and Cevilli a fighting chance and political leverage to preserve their culture. If she went in dressed like a hoodlum from the human world… it would be _highly _disrespectful, as she was representing the Northern clan in a sense and participating in kitsune traditions. _Kitsune_ traditions. Not _human_ traditions. That was like going to one of Ally's Hollywood events dressed the way she was dressed now. Big no-no.

Cevili nodded and began rummaging through the chest as if the jewels within it were worthless. She tossed aside a six-foot-long string of shiny, white pearls and sighed out of success as she pulled out a bundle wrapped in shiny, purple silk.

"Here it is." She murmured more to herself than Trisha and walked over to a leaf-covered rock. She placed the bundle on the flat surface, then placed a thin, gold chain on top of it that Trisha didn't even notice she picked up.

"What's that?" She asked as she stood next to Cevili.

"This is what you will wear. But first, bathe." She smiled politely.

"But I just showered." Trisha frowned and Cevili shook her head.

"That water is infused with special minerals and oils. It will stimulate your yokai blood and generally help disguise the human aspects of your scent. Please make sure to wash your hair with the oils in the glass bowls on the ledge." Cevili instructed politely and officially.

Trisha sighed, shrugged and kicked off her shoes. She trudged over to the center of the den and began to step into the water.

"Please wait." Cevili spoke tensely, as if Trisha were doing something wrong.

"What's up?" Trisha asked curiously. Cevilli chuckled and pointed at her.

"Take your clothes off. You'll pollute the water with what the clothes have absorbed. I smell a chemical in them and it is not wise to mix that with the minerals and oils.

_Oh duh; the laundry detergent. If their noses are as sensitive as they claim I'll mess up the water for sure… Well… this will be fun… getting naked in front of someone that looks like she's straight out of a fairy tale photo shoot for Versace or Vogue… Whatever… juuuuuuust treat it like the girl's locker room…. _

She stripped off her clothes and let them drop, then entered the absolutely _steaming _water. She relaxed, the scents from the water soothing her usually frazzled nerves. It was strange but right there in Cevili's den in what was probably the heart of demon world, she felt the safest she had in months. She felt protected, cared for, and loved. Nothing would hurt her here. … … … Is that what _home _is supposed to feel like?

She heard Cevili's quiet foot steps behind her. From somewhere the demoness had procured a comfortable stool (also probably stolen) and pulled it up behind her. She turned around and peered up at her. Sevilli smiled at her warmly.

"On second thought," She began, showing a beautiful sage-colored hair comb, "I'd like to wash your hair. Is that all right with you, ojou-sama?" She queried cutely. Trisha chuckled and turned back around.

"Of course… getting your hair washed by someone else is a luxury." She commented. "Thank you."

"Where you are truly from it is a right." Cevili informed.

"Mmm…" So the fox demons also took care of the women who were born with the ability to control the flowers?

"Your hair is so dark and beautiful. It reminds me of the trees Youko-nii-sama and I used to climb." She stated that sadly, and Trisha couldn't help but wonder why.

"Brother has informed me that you have learned to survive by now. How true is that?" Cevili asked before Trisha could inquire about the emotion behind her previous statement.

She wanted to drown herself right then and there now that her skills came into question, however...

"Um… how do I put this? Uh… I can dodge pretty well… I can run pretty far and pretty fast… And I can shoot energy out of my finger at someone…" That sounded pathetic even to her own ears.

Cevili chuckled. "That will be enough."

"You make it seem like the gathering is a war zone…" She glumly responded as Cevili pushed down on her head. She instinctively went under the water, scrubbed her face with her palms for good measure and popped back up with her hair soaking wet. She could hear a glass jar open as she closed her eyes and felt Cevili massaging gentle-smelling oil into her hair.

_My ends probably need the extra moisture anyway…. _

"It is not. However… may I ask for your word to keep something strictly between us?" She asked, as if conflicted.

"Of course Cevili, I'll take it to the grave; you know that." Trisha replied easily.

"When Youko-nii-sama was younger… perhaps right after he entered adulthood… he was betrothed to a kitsune named Izuru. Izuru was originally from our Northern clan. She was very powerful, as was nii-sama. The kitsune couldn't decide whether Youko should wait and mate with a human miko to make a future flower maiden or to mate with Izuru and produce powerful kitsune that could protect the flower maidens. This was part of the argument that started the in-fighting within the clan, which also led us to our extreme decision later to destroy the clan and the flowers altogether. Izuru had fallen in love with my brother, but my brother did not love her back. She became angry and left to join the Eastern clan. She may be alive today. If she is at the gathering, and perceives you in the wrong manner and happens to not be mating with someone, an issue of possession may arise and at that point, your safety may not be guaranteed. It is crucial for you to at least be fluent in the art of survival…" Cevili explained informatively, as if it wasn't a big deal.

"Wait. What. Now I have to deal with his _ex_?" Trisha half-shrieked, still reeling from the information she was just given.

_What the hell! This is a political mission! Not a get-youko's-ex-off-his-back-while-at-the-gathering mission! _

"Ex?." Sevilli asked curiously and Trisha managed to calm down, though her nerves were still buzzing with tense, unrelieved anger. Demon world was very old-school. It wasn't surprising that relationships here were not official and things like "ex's" weren't comprehended immediately. Where was a high-school girl when you needed one? Nevermind. She wouldn't have gotten along with such a girl anyway.

"There is a chance she may have matured and will not connect the dots. On the other hand, she may become jealous and offended." Trisha could almost _feel _Sevilli shrugging, as if that sort of thing happened _all _the time.

_At least she figured out what an "ex" is… Sevilli is so intelligent. I wish everyone was like her… _

"Well, I doubt she'll get jealous of me. If she's as hot as you are I don't see a problem." She grumped back. Really though, if this Izuru was as beautiful or more beautiful than Sevili, Trisha was no obvious threat. Youko could deal with her for all she cared. It was _his _stupid problem anyway!

Wait.

Why did she feel so _inadequate_ now? Ugh… screw that. She was hot in her own way. She wasn't "hot" by kitsune standards, _obviously, _but she was certainly decent-looking by human standards and that was good enough for her. Besides, who cared about what anyone else thought anyway? She was Trisha. She was fine the way she was. There was no one to impress but herself. If she wanted to change something for herself _by_ herself she certainly could. The best part was though, she was happy with the way she was, thus she didn't want to change anything. Even the rate she learned at was fine, despite the fact that she did not become all-powerful like Yusuke in a month's time. Satisfied with the positive train of thought, she finally released her frustrations through a much-needed sigh.

_What; Ever, bro. _

Cevili finished combing the oils through her hair's length and asked her to rinse out as much as she could. Surprisingly, the oils were hydrating and didn't make her hair feel greasy.

_They should really package this stuff and sell it at salons… _

She scrubbed her skin with another special oil that Sevilli handed her and what looked like a fresh sea sponge. She felt kind of gross when she was told to even scrub her genitalia with it, but she complied regardless, avoiding anything too sensitive for that kind of abrasiveness. When she was red and raw from scrubbing she dunked herself under one more time and popped back up. Cevilli was ready with a fluffy looking white cloth that was about the size of a beach towel. Trisha dried off and rubbed most of the moisture out of her hair. Cevilli sniffed the air and smiled.

"Beautiful. You smell less human. Are you able to activate your demon energy?" She queried.

"Not really."

"We shall decorate you in blood then."

Trisha took a breath to protest but a sharp, thorned vine shot out of Cevilli's sleeve and punctured the skin on the tip of the demoness' finger. Trisha could feel her energy leak into the drop of blood.

Cevilli touched the center of Trisha's chest and like a chain reaction her demonic energy leaked out just a bit, making her feel smooth and dangerous. She looked at her body and found the marks had popped up on her arms, legs, hips, chest, collarbones and rib cage. Cevilli drew on her, outlining the black marks with her blood. After a few minutes of checking over the marks, the blood had dried and Cevilli grabbed the bundle in silk. She handed it to Trisha and Trisha began to dress.

The outfit was beautiful. It was gold and silver— so reminiscent of Youko's choice colors— and consisted of white shoes that were like flats but much more durable and comfortable with gold tips— literally the pointed tips of the shoes were dipped in gold! There was—embarrassingly enough— a white thong that surprisingly felt better and more comfortable to wear than regular panties. A skirt that hugged her hips just perfectly with two slits running up its sides exposed just enough of her long legs. The skirt was lined in beautiful gold embroidery of vines and flowers. The top was more like a silk wrap-around bandeau to hold her breasts in place during combat. It was also outlined in the gold embroidery and tied in the back as a beautiful, perfect bow— of course thanks to Cevilli's skills in bow-tying.

By the time they had her top wrapped up and finished applying light, mineral-based makeup from demon world, Trisha's hair had dried and three hours had passed. The lipstick made from imp-blood had dried and stained her lips a crimson red and Youko— no longer in Shuichi's body— silently waltzed in, studying her carefully with a twinkle in his eye.

When Trisha finally noticed him she blushed almost as red as her lips and prayed he would stop looking at her like that… Like she was his… She wasn't and never would be, unfortunately.

"Who's hair do we decorate hers with?" Youko asked when his beautiful sister smiled at him in pleasant greeting.

"I believe it should be mine." She stated, as if waiting for Youko's rebuttal. The ancient fox demon remained silent for a few moments.

"_I wonder why that would be? We are dominant in this situation by tradition, no?" _Youko mused to himself.

"_Perhaps we're forgetting something… Cevilli is wise; we should agree…" _Shuichi reasoned. _"Besides if you lay claim over a human, even as subtly as intertwining your hair with hers, there may be negative consequences despite her strong political standing…" _

"_That is only a light marking, Shuichi… do you believe they would take it to that extreme?" _Youko asked in mock innocence. He could feel the hard look his other half gave him, chuckled and relented.

"Do as you believe is correct, Cevilli. I can help." Youko responded without missing a beat.

Within seconds vines whipped out of Cevilli's sleeve and cut off about half of her hair. Trisha gaped open-mouthed. She would never get used to that. Furthermore, now she understood where Akagi learned that ability. Cevilli caught the hair that fell, _re-did_ her hair without even using a _mirror_ and handed half the bundle to Youko.

Meawhile, Trisha was still fish-faced.

"Are you asking for me to put something in there?" Queried Youko teasingly and she immediately shut her mouth and glared at him as Sevili burst out into laughter that sounded like tinkling bells.

"Jerk." She mumbled and sat down on a nearby flat rock. She heard Youko chuckle as he and Cevilli walked over, placed the hair onto the rock and got to work. Cevilli had given her many intricate twists that Youko locked into place with gold snaps that had rubies attached to them. They really went all-out, honestly. She was surprised Youko was just going to go as he was. By the time they were finished, which in reality was only about five minutes because Youko realized he couldn't style hair to save his own hide and gave up the task to Cevilli and her vines, Trisha had an intricate, woven up-do that was out of her face, but weighed her head down.

Her own hair was long and thick as it was, and then Cevilli's bundle of hair was twice as thick and long as hers. The weight of Cevilli's hair alone put incredible stress on her neck, and the extra gold trinkets Youko stuck in her hair did nothing to help. She looked like a princess, but honestly, if her demon energy wasn't reinforcing her body, she was sure she would not be able to stand up straight.

_Honestly… I'll take six-inch-heels over neck-strain any day…. But it's cool that my hair looks white… _

After looking at herself in the reflection of the _already clean _hot spring, Youko handed her a beautiful white pelt that felt softer than anything she had ever touched before. Honestly, think about those baby blankets that make you want to cry because they're so soft. Multiply that by a million and maybe, just _maybe _you might understand how soft this fur was. It was just large enough to use as a shawl without being too much of an over-bearing statement piece.

"It's so soft…" She mumbled as she ran her fingers through it over and over again.

"Do you have your identification card from spirit world?" Youko queried and she sort of felt like Kurama was the one that said that through him. It was too innocent of a question with no double meaning behind it to come from Youko.

In response, she reached into the gold band of the white skirt that hugged her hips _so _perfectly and pulled out a white, metal card with her information on it and the official seal of spirit world. When Youko nodded she tucked it back into her skirt and watched as the male fox demon pulled out the thin gold necklace that Cevilli slipped out of her treasure chest. Cevilli smirked, enjoying her brother's slick thieving abilities. Trisha hadn't even noticed when he'd grabbed it off of the table! He pulled the ruby he stole from the ninja-wolf-demons and much to Trisha's utter shock and fear, looped it around the necklace and held it out to her.

"Wh-Wh-What— Is that— She dumbly couldn't finish any of those sentences. Was he _serious _right now!?

"It is." Youko smirked, then walked around her and casually tried to put it on her neck. She stopped it from touching her skin by using her hand to create a barrier. She felt Youko tense behind her.

"And if those demons sense it or something and come after me!?" She shrieked. Did he _not _think of these things ahead of the game!? She heard him chuckle as if she said something completely stupid.

"I own this jewel now. It has my blood within it. While waiting for you both, I figured I would claim my bounty permanently." She could _hear _the smirk in his voice. Oh… he was really one of a kind. Who else would mark someone else's treasure as his own? Only Youko…

Defeated, she sighed and let her hand drop. She felt his fingers ghost over her skin like spider silk as he clasped the delicate chain together. The rock was heavier than she expected and had been smoothed out into the shape and size of a golf ball. She shuddered at the memory of the demons that had hunted them for that jewel… they had nearly _killed_ him to get it back.

"It is customary to present something you have 'acquired' recently at the Gathering. You will be my means to display my victory. It decorates you best." Youko spoke as he walked in front of her. He gave her one last smirk, turned around and bent to one knee, showing her his back.

"Y-Youko?" She asked, uncertain completely forgetting about the jewel and the trouble it caused them in the past. What was he doing?

"It will be faster if you hang onto nii-sama." Cevilli explained as she slipped on a _glass _slipper. No jokes here, folks. The slipper was glass and it actually _bent_ by using her energy to mold itself around her foot perfectly.

She had officially seen it all… She shook her head but climbed onto Youko's back anyway. He hauled her up and gripped her legs tightly. She wrapped them around his torso to ease the stress on her thighs. He lifted her as if she weighed nothing and they took off at lightning speed. Her eyes caught a few things, but most things were still a blur. She was fast and had upped her speed, yes, but she was nothing compared to Youko Kurama at _top_ speed. Nothing. She could only imagine how much work she would have to do to reach Hiei's speed and promptly dismissed the idea of even trying. Such a feat was impossible, surely.

-X-

By the time they reached the general area of the Gathering, the sky was dark. They slowed to a stop about a mile away from the eastern fox tribe. Cevilli stretched more like a cat than a fox and touched her toes.

"That was quite a freeing experience." Cevilli spoke. It was then that Trisha realized the fox demoness had been stressed and rightfully so. She had an entire clan to oversee and take care of. She smiled at her as she attempted to slide off of Youko's back. The stubborn demon would not let her go. He chuckled, flipped her forward and into his arms, a proud smirk on his face. She frowned up at him and crossed her arms.

"Please put me down." She began politely, practicing her negotiation skills.

"_Oh the polite approach… well done…" _Youko mused to himself.

"No." He responded clearly, mischievously. And if he had to be honest with himself, he would admit to enjoying ruffling her feathers. She huffed and after hundreds of years, he actually felt _playful. _This did not feel like a political meeting that could backfire and kill them. He felt as if he were on vacation. He had his sister and the woman he loved with him. They were enough of a family to fill the void in his chest, even if it did not erase the subtle, pulsing guilt of killing his kin. But how could he complain? This was as good as he was going to get. Ever.

"I don't want to cause a scene!" She growled and if possible her arms tightened underneath her breasts, plumping them for him to view better. He smirked and he felt his tail brush his legs as it swished excitedly in response.

_What the heck is his problem! Let me go! Youkooooo! _She whined in her head and wiggled in his grasp. She was sure she was red in the face. His arms felt hard and nice beneath her legs and back. His abs felt sexy next to her side and only reminded her of how hard and toned his back was the whole trip there.

"We're going to cause a scene one way or another. Why not enter in chaos?" He joked in response to her cry. She gave him a stern look and he slowly, gently lowered her, but only hovered over the ground just a foot. Yes, in all honesty, he _could _bend lower and _set_ her down. He was strong enough to hold her while doing so, but he enjoyed the feeling of her holding onto him as she steadied herself onto the soft, moist ground. Her small hand on his chest reminded him of her delicate femininity and he wanted nothing more than to be the man she desired and wanted in her life.

He almost ached when she stepped away, no longer connected to him physically. Subconsciously he frowned and followed his sister's lead. Trisha trailed behind him as he and Cevilli both disappeared into the thick trees and bushes.

-X-

They must have walked for another mile or two. Trisha was too nervous and lost in thought to notice how far they've gone. She missed the hissing bugs the size of her head and the trees of the forest growing bigger and bigger until their roots were as big as the biggest trees she had ever seen in the human world. The forest grew dimmer, but still remained illuminated in faint moonlight like a fairytale wood. The foliage around them became thicker. She missed the idle conversation between brother and sister. She only stopped when she came upon a clearing with a massive, wooden fortress built to ancient Japanese castle schematics and surrounded by a stone wall that harbored several patrol units of silver-haired demons.

There was only one guard at the gate.

…

…

…

One. What did that subtly state? They entrusted the entire security of the fox tribe to _one _demon who could've been drunk and passed-out for all they knew. Yes, they were trying to show that they were powerful and bold. The guard was just a formality; an illusion of security that they really didn't need. Her blue eyes narrowed sharply as he drew a vine-sword and pointed it at her.

She studied him up and down.

Thick, leather boots professionally dyed black adorned his feet. Black pants were tucked into those boots. A brown, leather holster stretched across his lower abdomen, now free of its weapon. An olive tunic that revealed his toned arms hung just loosely enough on his torso to hide his obviously killer build. His hair was long and tied back into a low pony, but cut short, wild and choppy on top. His honey eyes were sharp and pierced through her own. His ears twitched, picking up the sound of her wild heartbeat. His tail swished idly in tense excitement— a predator's instinct.

She was afraid.

He could smell that.

She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of breaking her façade. Not in Youko's presence.

"Tenshi…" Youko drawled out her nickname as he stepped into the clearing. "You shouldn't step out on your own. You could have been killed." He spoke smoothly and confidently.

_I know that_. She wanted to hiss back, but she kept her mouth shut.

She stopped in her tracks and heard Cevilli crawl out of the bushes. Her only slightly enhanced sense of smell could pick up the herbs burning on the inside of the fortified complex. The insects quietly hummed around them as the guard put away his sword and stepped forth.

"Ah, Youko-Kurama and Sevilli of the Northern tribe. You're late, as usual." The serious guard spoke condescendingly.

_What. We're late!? Did they get here late on purpose to tick these people off… or did I make them late? _Trisha panicked in her mind. She looked at Youko and Sevilli and realized that they came late on purpose. They looked like all was going according to their plains…

"Who is the guest?" He demanded. Apparently, Youko and Sevilli were the black sheep of the silver kitsune, though. Based on how this guard treated them… they were obviously outcasts… Wonderful…

Youko moved and mercifully stepped in front of her. She secretly let a shudder rip through her body as Cevilli protectively stood next to her. Trisha felt like a child. The man's spirit energy was monstrous. She wanted to hold Cevilli's hand, not for any reason other than to feel comforted… to feel _safe._

_I'm so weak…_ She whispered in her mind. _Weak… _

"Reikai personnel. She is a representative of spirit world and a descendant of the flower maidens. Our honorary guest." Youko introduced, with just a hint of a smirk in his tone. He really liked to cause trouble… even though he was _way_ too old to be causing trouble. However, she supposed that when you were that powerful and capable you could spit on kings and back yourself up with your fists. She almost shook her head to herself. Unbelievable; but infinitely understandable. What would she do with three hundred years of life to kill? Would she mess with the authorities at some point…? Yes. Yes she would. Shamelessly too.

"I see. Proceed please." He punched the wooden double-doors that were nestled in between the stone walls. They opened with an ominous _creeeeeeeak_, similar to the way the doors opened to a haunted house in a cliché horror movie.

_This isn't going to go well…_She thought to herself as she hesitantly trailed after Youko, just ahead of Cevilli. She dared a glance at the guard. He glared at her, most definitely for her obvious weaknesses. She didn't deserve the title Youko flaunted with his smooth voice when he introduced her. The guard was a warrior. A _real _warrior. She was a pretender. He could see her fallacy as much as she knew it in her mind when she compared herself to him. He would eat her alive in a fight and there would be little she could do about it. She frowned and gave him an apologetic look that seemed to confuse him, though his angular face only budged infinitesimally to let her see the emotion. Somehow his eyes promised that they would talk later and she found herself not anxious for that conversation.

Again, like a scared child, she felt temped to grab onto the back of Youko's tunic or hide behind him. She sensed exactly _three-hundred-and-two _fox demons. They were all much, _much_ more capable than her, save for one that seemed only minutely stronger than her; probably a small child of some sort.

_Or a newborn… their children could probably kick me around if they wanted… _

She studied the fox demon males and females that seemed to walk around and enjoy food and games that several wooden stands offered, much like in an ancient Japanese festival, except the prizes were all jewels instead of fish or dolls. They even walked past a circular arena where several young fox demons battled each other, also for prizes. Every demon had hair that ranged from ashy-black to silvery grey, to white. Each pair of eyes ranged from black, to brown, to honey and smoldering amber. It was like the Southern fox tribe, but with different colors. She studied Youko and Sevilli. Their hair was the most silver and their eyes the most sparkling honey color. Did that dictate royalty? Power? Confused, she walked on in the single file line the three of them formed down what seemed to be the main dirt road to the ancient wooden castle in the distance.

There were several streets that branched off and seemed to lead to surrounding residential areas. The complex was a _humongous _city in actuality, very traditionally positioned and built. It was beautiful and she would have enjoyed the walk if it were not for the stares she knew she was getting and the paranoia that her ability to sense energies gave her. Slowly, they approached the castle that held the most powerful energy signatures— equal to Youko and Sevilli— and the one that was only slightly stronger than her own. She could feel her shoulders hunch further down with every step she took.

She was fodder.

F. O. D. D. E. R.

Yes. She was epically weak. She could _never _step in here and create order if there was discord just by herself. She felt like a princess with body guards. She _hated _feeling that way. It was the very persona she never wished to embody.

Suddenly, WHAM! Sevilli clapped the center of her back right atop her bow, and she straightened out of pure pain. She took a breath to complain, but Sevilli's hands were on her shoulders, slightly squeezing; effortlessly commanding silence like a mother's gestures towards her child.

"You are powerful politically. It may not feel wonderful but you must understand that you have the ability to one day become just as strong as these people. Walk with confidence or your words will mean nothing when it comes time to say them." She chastised. How did she always seem to know what was on her mind?

She put a determined expression on her face and walked confidently. She had to recite 'confidence' in her mind like a mantra until she felt mentally solid against the powerful energies she was feeling.

_Let it all sink into the background… What matters here is wit, not beefy strength… Though I wish Yusuke was here. Actually, I wish I was Yusuke right now… It would be SO cool to be that sinisterly strong. The guy could probably pick up oceans and dump them on places to win wars… _

Comforted by her thoughts of her distant relative, she decided to study her surroundings.

There were attendants for the gardens surrounding the castle. They were mostly female with a myriad of different hair colors, but they all had crimson, sometimes ruby-colored eyes and vines around their necks that inhibited the use of their energy.

Her eyes widened as they met the sad ruby orbs of a small girl who looked to be about eight. Her hair was dark blue and she was dressed in a ragged, brown dress that looked like it used to function as a sack. Her bangs were hacked and haggard as were the tips of her short hair. She was picking roses out of a rose bush and had bruises and bright red slashes across her thin, bare arms. Her mother looked at Trisha and glared, whispering a chastising statement to her fearful daughter. Trisha's mouth fell open. These people were _slaves_ to these fox demons! They thought _she _was on the kitsune's side!

_What. The. Hell. How could they do that!? Wasn't it in their stupid treaty that they were to keep to themselves and NOT conquer others!? _The shock and disgust in her mind left a hollow and heavy feeling in her stomach.

_Those people are being treated like garbage… _

Her eyes narrowed. That was an issue she would solve. If not with her words then with her last, dying attempts at a fight. She would stand up for these voiceless people. Her heart was made up, as was her mind.

Youko seemed to sense her determination and underlying rage. He curiously looked at her from behind his shoulder. His eyes were solemn when they locked with her own. She glared at him. How could he sit by and do nothing? This was _not _normal.

A servant girl suddenly came running down the wooden hall of the deck surrounding the first level of the castle. As she reached the wooden steps in front of the iron entrance doors she fell to her hands and knees, bowing. She looked to be in her mid-twenties. She too had ruby-ish eyes and messy, wavy charcoal hair.

"Good afternoon Youko-sama! Y-Yukito-sama is expecting you! Please allow me to escort you to the sitting room!" She tried to speak loudly in her quiet voice. She only made herself look more afraid and stressed.

She was shaking and malnourished and at this point, enough was enough. She couldn't take any more! How much pain had these people been suffering!? She took a confident step forward and reached out to pick the girl up but was stopped by a strong, heavy hand on her already burdened shoulders. As if betrayed, she whipped her heavy, adorned head to Youko, uncaring of the creaking protests of her neck. She turned angry blue eyes on him and tried to glared holes through his head as he closed his eyes and somberly shook his head.

_WHAT DOES HE MEAN, 'NO'?! _

She huffed when he opened his eyes and gave her a hard, cold look.

_Fine. Be like that. I will GRILL you for this later. Just you wait. _She venomously thought, hoping he could sense the threat she was promising. She would chew him out. Definitely.

"Do take use there." He spoke towards the girl who flinched from the sound of his voice.

"Y-Yes!" She squeaked timidly and shakily stood up. Trisha looked away. It was too painful to watch her struggle and just do nothing. The girl lifted a large knocker on the iron doors and tiredly let it fall. The doors opened somehow and she walked them through the halls lit by sconces and the occasional candle. The castle was plain and wooden but shiny. They entered their designated room through a timeless, sliding rice-paper door decorated with various different kinds of flowers.

The room was about the size of a football field, not surprisingly, since the castle itself was too enormous to put into words. On the far wall there was a large, purple cushion on which a fox demon, dressed in white similarly to Youko, sat. He had short, wavy but wild strands of hair and piercing, almost _mocking_ honey eyes. His face was handsome and angular and he was muscled enough to back up the crazy amount of energy his body contained. Two, fluffy fox ears sat atop his head and just to his left, pressed against his leg, rested his fox tail, which swished excitedly at the sight of his guests. Several gold, silver and bejeweled bangles hung from his right wrist and his left ear had a small hoop earring that had a tiny ruby jewel hanging from it.

He would ordinarily be the most handsome person she had ever seen, but knowing that he was the leader of a tribe that _enslaved _people made her hate his guts on site and thus made him look less physically attractive to her. Oh yes… and let us not forget the naked slave women that all fawned over him against their will around him… yep… she was about to lose control. The blaring anger made her focus only on his throat. She would definitely rip it out…

-X-

OH DAMN! Yukito likes his hoes!

And yes Sevilli's name can be spelled Cevilli or Sevilli. I did that on purpose because she's special. Leave me reviews! 

Q: Where was your first kiss if you've ever had one. And if not where would you like it to be?

I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. All rights are reserved to Yoshihiro Togashi.

See ya Later, Space Cowboy!

-X-


	30. Silk

|WEEDS CAN TURN INTO FLOWERS|

|30|

Thank you! Enjoy!

-X-

"Ah, Youko, Cevilli. Late, like typical Northerners…" That…that _pervert_ drawled. She even hated the sound of his voice. It was like suffocating silk. She became dizzy with anger. The adrenaline that rushed her body was incredible. She felt the demoness within her churn like a whirlpool. She was angry enough to ignore the fact that she was aroused by the flowers that perfumed the room.

Her logical mind kicked in and she wondered how these women just _let_ a man like that _use_ them! Some of them had red blotches on the skin of their rears. Some had swollen, stiff nipples. Obviously Yukito was kinky. She didn't know whether to be embarrassed and run away like a child that has seen too much too early, or to feed off of her anger and just lunge at him.

"Mmmh Yukito-sama… must we wait?" One of the women groaned. She had glazed-over ruby eyes. Obviously her mind had been broken long ago. Trisha gaped, her anger replaced with shock.

_What? She… she… freaking _wants _him!? _

Now she thought her heart would stop.

Yukito turned his honey orbs onto her and she glared at him.

"Who is the rude one?" He queried in regards to her. The condescending look on his face only served to anger her more. Rude? He welcomed them with a room full of broken-minded naked _enslaved_ women and _she_ was the rude one?!

She took a deep breath to give him a good earful, but Youko placed a heavy hand on her shoulder and squeezed ever so stealthily. Her shoulder flared in pain.

"This is our honorary guest. Her name is Trisha." Youko explained calmly, _coldly_. Again, she was amazed at how unaffected he was. How could he condone this… this absolute _crap_!?

"Trisha is the current spirit detective. She will be representing Spirit World as well as the near-extinct flower maidens that come from our clan." Sevilli chimed in. Calm and cold as well.

_What the hell is this? They were normal like ten seconds ago!? How could they feel _nothing_!? _

She looked frantically from Youko to Sevilli. No expression was visible on their faces. Had she walked into the twilight zone? What happened to the expressive albeit eccentric fox demons she journied here with?

Youko's eyes caught hers and she shuddered at what she saw in them. Death. He was so frightening and cold she saw nothing but death and destruction and the promise of chaos if she did not obey. He shot her a glare that had her quivering down to her ankles. She felt like prey. She feared Ren less than Youko in that moment. She quickly looked away and angled her head downwards, giving the other fox demon a shy bow as a show of respect.

This was her harsh reality. No matter how angry she was at Yukito for being the bastard he clearly was, she could not raise her hand and fight him. Not only would she be demolished in seconds, she would put both Youko and Cevilli at risk. She was a phenomenal sensor; she knew very well the strengths of the demons within the castle they were in. Say those demons were subordinates to Yukito… Suppose they didn't like someone dealing out human-world justice to their leader… suppose they showed no mercy for some dimwit who refused to tolerate their culture… Youko and Cevilli would have to step in and protect her. The three of them would be placed in enemy territory by technicality if that were to happen. Because they would step in and protect her, a war would break out between Youko and Cevilli and the Eastern tribe. Both fox demons were exceptional in battle, yes; Trisha knew this, but seriously, how long would they really last against forty or more fighters at equal strength to them?

Not only would blowing up on Yukito start an immediate war, more innocent people would become involved in it. Unfortunately, Cevilli was the leader of the Southern tribe. Trisha knew Akagi and Akaru would NOT stand for their mother-figure and leader being brutally slaughtered by the eastern clan. The Southern fox tribe would fight for the blood of the eastern clan as a result. Those innocent fox demon children would be forced to fight and who knows how many would die or become enslaved under Yukito then?

_And_ above all of this Spirit world would not stand for their spirit detective being erased. No way. They'd be stupid NOT to drive all fox demons out of existence for such an insult… And then all hell would absolutely break loose because Yusuke would definitely get mad. He had accepted her as family, distant or not. He wouldn't be happy either. Kurama was friends with Yusuke… how conflicted would her distant cousin be if he heard about such an event … … … All because she disagreed on a matter that should have just been accepted _politically _as a "cultural difference".

If she really wanted to do something about her rage she would have to bargain for a change in the way things were run here. She would have to use her wit and her words…exactly what Kurama had told her she would have to use to be of any help. Cevilli and Kurama had seen to it that Trisha was trained before this event as a_ precaution_: only if things went sour with or without her being able to help it. She was mainly here for her _intelligence _and her ability to think on her feet, not her strength.

With much regret and suppressed blood-boiling anger, she bowed lower.

"Forgive me, Yukito-sama. I am unaccustomed to the ways of the Eastern Fox Clan…" She apologized.

Here was another thing to think about: What if Yukito had done this to _specifically_ tick her off and force her to force Cevilli and Youko into a war? What if this was what he wanted: a complete disregard of the treaty due to the Northen Fox Clan attacking the Eastern Clan… ?If he really wanted war and more slave women to toy with then that is exactly what he would do: use Cevilli and Youko's own pawn as an excuse for war. Politically he'd get away with such a plot scott-free under the guise of "the Northern tribe blatantly attacking" him for no reason.

_Jerk… don't think you can manipulate me so easily… Tch. He thinks he's so mart. Fine, Yukito. You can push as many buttons as you like… this will all blow up in your face later, I promise._

She straightened from her bow and gave the man a sickeningly sweet smile. He was glowering at her but she ignored it. _Grin and bear it, Trisha… grin and bear it… _

"I did not mean to be rude. It merely takes a minute to adjust. I _am_ mostly human…" She excused. Yes it was a pathetic pampered excuse but it was kind of true. A regular human would be shocked by something like that… Wow… a "regular" human… when did she stop being "regular" exactly? That was a thought for another time… Right now she just wanted to punch him _hard _and wanted to focus her efforts on NOT going through with that desire.

Youko's threatening grip on her shoulder _finally_ relaxed and the fox demon let his hand drop. She was sure her shoulder would bruise, but the fear he had shocked her with had served its purpose. It made her think twice about her next decision. She was a _politician _here, not a justice league super hero. She would save all the wonder woman-ing for a later date. She watched Yukito adopt a sly smirk and stand from his cushion. Irritatingly, the women reached out for him and he swatted their hands away. He was _really _stretching her patience thin… honestly.

He walked up to her and sized her up as if this was the start of some ongoing battle, which technically it was... much to her chagrin. He chuckled to himself, and she almost slipped up and glared at him before he bowed to her.

"Spirit Detective Trisha… may I please give you a name that is easier to roll off of my tongue?" He asked as he straightened and gently grabbed her hand. She almost shuddered when he said '_tongue'_. He obviously meant it perversely. He meant it to shake her up. She would not let him. She gave him a disarming smile and giggled.

"Please do, my name _is _by all means foreign." Youko's own struggle with her name was the only memory she could think of to help her pull off that fake chuckle. Even he had resigned himself to calling her 'Tenshi' which meant 'angel'.

"Perhaps I can pick it? I have been wanting to give you a nickname, if I may… Ojou-sama?" Cevilli smiled as she spoke, her honey eyes twinkling with pride. Trisha was grateful for the fox demoness' interruption. She was like a big sister, a pillar she desperately needed right now.

"Of course Cevilli, I would be honored." She fluidly responded.

_Better you to give me my nickname than that dirt bag…. _

"Yukito-san, 'Tiri' sounds the most similar to her name. Is it not a fitting name?" Cevilli asked innocently. Trisha saw the card she had played. By asking him if it was a good name to give, she was opening up a trap for him to fall in. If he said no and suggested anything else it would be _quite _rude. Thus, 'Tiri' would stick for the time being and Yukito could do nothing to stop that.

He smiled just as sweetly at Cevilli. It was sickeningly fake, though to someone who didn't see the ugly side of him first, they would assume it was genuine. Yukito was a good politician… a good actor…

"Of course Cevilli. It is quite fitting." He replied as if at a tea party.

"Lovely." Cevilli responded.

Youko cleared his throat.

"Perhaps we can be shown to our rooms, Yukito. I've grown tired of loitering in your greeting room." Youko spoke unenthusiastically. She almost grinned at his attitude. He just _loved _to be a jerk ever-so-subtly. She loved it too. Yukito was getting what he deserved: disrespect and dishonor.

"Of course, cousin." Yukito paused and cleared his throat. "HANA!" He growled out the name of a servant and made Trisha effectively jump. He chuckled at her uncontrolled response.

"Quite jumpy, aren't we, detective _Tiri_?" He mused. Trisha chuckled in response. The best way to deal with him was to flirt with him so flirt she would.

"You're quite the loud one…" She replied as elegantly as possible. Politics was all about double meanings.. words hidden behind words…

He chuckled.

"And you have no idea…"

Well that was an unexpected answer. Ew. She didn't want to know how loud he was –ahem— beneath the sheets! Curse Yukito and his perverse undertones!

She didn't have enough time to blush before a woman with disheveled, short dark-green hair and bright ruby eyes ran in through a rice-paper door to their right. She was dressed in the same burlap dress most of the castle servants were dressed in aside from the women who deliriously pleasured Yukito. Her feet were bare and scarred. Obviously, she had been barefoot for a very long time to collect scars on her feet. This unnerved and upset Trisha but she held onto her composure.

The servant cow-towed.

"Yes! Yukito-sama!" She sounded out of breath and tired. Trisha promised to free her in her mind to keep herself from looking troubled.

"Take our Northern guests to their rooms." He instructed.

"Yes!"

She stood up and turned around. Yukito suddenly placed a hand on Youko's shoulder. In reaction, Youko turned around almost _too_ sharply and raised an eyebrow. It was then that Trisha realized they were both tall, but Yukito was a few inches shorter than Youko. Regardless the tension that lay beneath their actions spoke of a past quarrel she hoped would not arise too soon.

"I will send someone over to escort you to the sacrificial feast. We could not start it at the usual hour, since you were late." Yukito explained though his voice was almost in a deadpan… as if he hated Youko from the deepest parts of his soul.

"I see. How long do we have until then?" A cool response. Neutral. He was ignoring Yukito's subtle reminder of his hatred for Youko.

"An hour. They still have to pick which one to sacrifice. Would you like to offer them a hand?" Yukito's eyes were dazzling with evil intent, but Trisha was still busy trying to comprehend that they would sacrifice and eat something or some_one_ at this 'sacrificial feast'.

_What in hell is wrong with these people…? _

"I prefer to relax before my meals, Yukito. Perhaps you should find someone else to pick the sacrifice."

"Of course, you do tire easily, forgive me for forgetting." Again, that evil gleam in Yukito's eyes was unnerving…

Youko narrowed his eyes at Yukito in response, and Trisha almost did too. That tidbit about "tiring easily" was obviously an inside-insult between the two of them. Now, the _details_ as to what incident gave birth to the insult… Who knew?

"Now, now… we're _all_ tired, nii-sama… let us rest…" Cevilli cooled the fire between the two and Youko abruptly turned around and followed the servant girl. Cevilli bowed, so Trisha did too, then they both trailed after Youko.

Hana, the servant girl led them tensely to a small wing with two, enormous rooms.

"There are only two rooms. Yuktio-sama assumed the honorary guest would have to be supervised at all times, as per usual." Hana quietly spoke. "Arigato and enjoy your stay." She bowed and left the three in the hallway. Trisha waited for her footsteps to disappear before she exhaled and placed a hand on the wooden wall of the hallway.

"You almost lost your temper." Youko drawled, unenthused.

"And _you_ almost scared my dinner out of my stomach!" Trisha snapped back, pointing an accusing finger at him. "How could you just stand there and watch him behave so abrasively!? That. Was. Not. Cool!" She poked his chest with every word to emphasize her point. Sevilli's gentle hands lowered her arm and she relaxed into a neutral stance.

"Nevermind don't answer that I already know why." Trisha spoke in a defeated tone and crossed her arms.

"The same reason why it would be foolish for you to simply start fighting the injustices here. We are outnumbered here. If and when the time calls for you to 'call upon your spirit-world partners for a clearer opinion on matters you do not fully understand'…' – and yes the ancient demon actually air-quoted the phrase— "_That _is when we can think about reforming this clan, or at least disempowering Yukito. Otherwise we will have to be patient and wait for change to occur through verbal battle, _not _physical." Youko reminded her. She sighed and shook her head.

"He wanted to tick me off on purpose. He was there, waiting for us in that manner because he _knew_ it was going to get on either my or Cevilli's nerves." Trisha explained, exasperated and mentally tired from the anger and the politics.

"I am aware of that. Yukito is an abrasive person. However, you must control your anger. Cevilli and I have faith in you to do this, not only because you are a political figure, but because of the _person _that you are. We picked you for this outing because you are _right _for the task of solving issues with words, instead of malice and power." Youko explained thoroughly and she could almost _hear _the same phrase in Kurama's voice in her mind. Perhaps he was helping Youko explain? The fox demon wasn't one for lengthy explanations as it stood…

Regardless, Youko was absolutely right. If Youko wanted to come in here and kick everyone's hide he'd have just asked Yusuke to join him. But Youko and Cevilli _both_ wanted to _peacefully _settle matters. That is why they picked Trisha for the job. She shook her head once more at the complicated situation and shuddered now that the adrenaline was completely sapped from her system. She felt very tired and very old.

"I just want to sleep for a little bit." She replied wearily. "We have enough time for that, right?" She asked her two guardians.

Cevilli giggled, her laugh comforting to hear.

"Of course. I'll leave you two to that!" She winked and disappeared into a door, much to Trisha's surprise. She blushed furiously and called after the fox demoness, but the only response she got was the sound of the rice paper door lock clicking.

Trisha covered her mouth as she gaped this time around. She did _not _want Youko to make a perverse joke to embarrass her further. All the blood would rush to her brain otherwise and her head would pop. She heard Youko chuckling.

"It is nice to see her enjoying herself." He was smiling fondly at the rice paper door Cevilli slipped through. Trisha couldn't help but smile at him in response. He looked wistful and relaxed; like a loving older brother _should_ look. Plus, it was nice to see a gentle look on Youko's face. He had honestly terrified her earlier. He turned to her and gave her an apologetic look. Successfully, he accomplished looking like a kicked dog and she sighed and rolled her eyes.

"No. I don't _want_ to forgive you." She sniffed in response, just to joke with him.

"Would you want to forgive me if I did anything you asked?" He bargained, mock-innocently.

She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Anything?" She asked suspiciously, now with a raised brow.

"Anything." He responded, his "kicked puppy" façade slipping just a bit to show the mischievous glimmer in his eyes she was used to seeing.

"Hmmmm… nope." She shut him down quickly and shamelessly, then moved to open the rice-paper door.

_Heh heh… sucker… _

"Eep!" She squeaked when Youko lifted her in his arms.

"Not even if I massage every tense muscle in your back to relax you?" He asked while opening the door with his foot, stepping through and then closing it with his other foot.

"Hey! Lemme go!" She tried to push herself away but it was useless. She missed the elegant details of the room as she struggled fruitlessly against him. She was blind to the rice paper lanterns that sat on the tables to illuminate the room and the large platform in the center of the room with the king-sized bed atop it, adorned with red silk bedding decorated with golden flowers.

Youko chuckled.

"No." He easily responded, as if denying a child the act of sticking their fingers into an electrical socket. As if it were for her own good.

She huffed and crossed her arms.

"Fine. I'll forgive you if you put me down." She succumbed to his game. His hold on her loosened but he frowned.

"We both know that's not true." He smirked again. She glared up at him.

"Politicians are full of lies. I'm sticking to my persona here."

His smirk dropped and he looked at her so seriously she actually blushed and had to check if she said something stupid. His eyes bore into her very soul and she found herself shuddering.

"Be honest with me while you're here. It will be taxing to your human mind to become someone else for so long." He explained. "Be who you are with me, behind these closed doors." He urged.

She looked away, unable to hold his gaze, wondering if he meant that he didn't want her to lose herself in Yukito's games.

"S-sure."

"Very well."

Plop! He dropped her right on the bed. She bounced back up once and fell back down.

"Youko!" She growled. That stunt almost ruined her hair! She touched it just to make sure it was still intact.

"That will not come apart. You should keep it that way until tomorrow." He climbed onto the bed on the platform. Nervous, she almost shriveled in his presence as he crawled forward in a predatory manner and hovered just above her, his hands at her shoulders, his hair spilling over his neck and tickling her cheeks.

She did not realize when she lied back and relaxed. She did however, realize how _well_ Yukito's aphrodisiac was hitting her. Her heart suddenly sped up and she almost moaned at the ache between her legs. Dutifully, she bit down on her lip to keep herself from crying out loud.

"Hmmm.. I was wondering when that would hit you. Your tolerance increases when you're angry." Youko smirked and she gaped at him.

"Hey! Don't take advantage!" She frowned. Now was the perfect time for her to be easily swayed. Her demon blood was pumping, lowering her usual human inhibitions and making her react in slightly altered ways, she had stayed in a room that was entirely scented with an aphrodisiac for god knows how long, and lastly Youko was absolutely _delicious_: from his long hair, to his masculine jawline and his perfect physique.

The naughty little voices in her head were absolutely _singing_ for her to make him take his shirt off. He wanted her. She could certainly use her sex appeal to make him do just about _anything _at this point. She shook her head. See? Demon blood. It made her think absolutely crazy thoughts!

Youko frowned.

"I will not mate with you if you do not wish for me to." Youko replied.

"I— I'm just not in my usual level-headed state right now… it's a rash decision to make on an important subject."

Youko chuckled.

"Why is sex so 'important' to humans?" Youko asked. "I've gotten Shuichi's opinion, now I would appreciate yours."

She blushed. Fantastic. She was having a _sex_ talk with a fox demon whose had more sex than she probably ever would in two lifetimes!

-X-

Youko's getting naaaaauuuuuughttttyyyyyyyy!

Hit me up with reviews, reviewers!

Q: If you could alter one aspect of our world, what would you alter? It could be anything. Like the sky being purple at all times or something.

I do not own Yu Yu hakusho. All rights are reserved to Yoshihiro Togashi. 'Cause he's awesome.

See ya Later space cowboy!


	31. Sacrifices

WEEDS CAN TURN INTO FLOWERS

|31|

Wow! I am so happy with the detailed reviews I've been getting! You guys know who you are ;)I love and accept all of your feedback and even your constructive criticism! I do take the advice! Anything to make this more enjoyable for you guys! I wanted to also apologize for the late updates. I reached a busy period where I'm studying for the SAT that I never took *mumbles* that I shoulda freakin' taken when I was still in high school ugh -_- so I can go to school and change my life for the better. Basically I have to reteach myself ALGI ALGII GEO and a wee bit of STATS in like… … … um… a week or two. _ Nevertheless here's an update. Sorry to have kept you guys waiting!

-X-

"Um… Okay… Sex is important to _me _specifically…" _Best to be specific so he understands that not EVERYONE is like this…_ "…because it's emotional. I don't want to do it with someone who A) doesn't love me back, B) can never be with me or C) is just doing it casually." She paused for a heartbeat and placed the pad of her pointer finger on her chin as she momentarily contemplated another thought.

_Screw it he knows already anyway. _

She rolled her eyes and went with the thought. "Plus I'm a virgin. That kind of thing is supposed to be special when you do it the first time." She shrugged as her embarrassment just hit her. What if he laughed? She looked at the silky red sheets to her right, unable to look at Youko's beautiful face. They were so close she could feel the soft fabric of his tunic glide across the nude skin of her stomach. Reflexively, she squirmed, the softness of the cloth making her think crazy thoughts, like what it would sound hitting the floor, for example…

Suddenly, she heard him sigh, then with a sudden rustle of the fabric beneath them he appeared in her line of sight, to her right, sprawled out in a starfish position. He seemed to gaze at the ceiling and concentrate on something. She turned redder when she realized he was thinking of something horrible to make his stiffness go away. She watched the bulge in his pants shrink from the corner of her eye with secret fascination.

_STOP THINKING ABOUT WHAT HIS PENIS LOOKS LIKE! _

If only he knew how panicked she was in her mind.

"Stop panicking." Came the casual tone of his velvet voice.

She gasped aloud and then covered her mouth. He had found her out! That sneak! How did he know!?

"I'm _that_ obvious!?" She shrieked, suddenly sitting upright, her words muffled beneath her hands.

Youko chuckled and then turned his eyes to her. If her face grew any hotter she was sure it would melt off of her bones. Slowly she lowered her hands and played with the fabric of her skirt, keeping her eyes on her lap.

"Your eyes were shooting everywhere very quickly. Also, your heart rate sped up at that moment… All signs of panic." He droned, as if psycho-analyzing her body language correctly was an every-day thing for him. He yawned at that moment, and she swore he was incontestably bored with being able to pick people's minds apart.

_How does he do that and act so cool at the same time? _She wondered, half-envying him. If only she could be so slick and awesome herself… her life would certainly be a lot easier. _Does it just come with age? _She chuckled aloud at that thought. Youko would always be Youko at the end of the day.

Her small outburst of giggles piqued his interest and with a twitch of his ears and a slight rise to his brows he looked over at her. She looked at his curious expression and laughed again. He frowned, obviously confused.

"May I be privy as to what is so funny?" He queried elegantly.

"You're just one-of-a-kind. No one can do what you do." She smiled at him while telling the truth. "And you're cute when you're curious." She added on bravely and stuck her tongue out, playfully.

He gave her a genuine smile, slug an arm over her waist and turned on his side to sleep.

"Youko?" She queried, the confused one this time around.

"Sleep." He commanded drearily. "They will slaughter a live creature in front of you in the next hour. You will need all of your mental strength to overcome the scene." He frowned in his sleep, as if subjecting her to watching the crime was something unappealing to him.

"Are you upset that I'll have to watch?" She boldly asked. Why not be honest with him; she _was _hopped up on her own blood at this point and feeling quite confident… so confident, in fact, that she almost shrugged to herself whilst thinking so.

He cracked open an eye, studied her pensive expression, sighed and sat up. He looked at her with age in his eyes, like a parent that had to break a promise to their child. She frowned, very suddenly and fully feeling the gap in their experience.

"Yes. I apologize for not being clearer about how this would all transpire sooner. Perhaps you would not have agreed to come here if you knew about all of this. But do believe me, they have gotten worse over the years." He explained, hoping she would understand that he was fully blaming himself for her discomfort. To his surprise, she smiled and shrugged… such a young and _easy_ thing to do. Youth was always so careless… He couldn't _remember _the last time he had been so carefree.

"I would have come anyway. I wouldn't have let the threat of seeing horrific things stop me from helping you and Cevilli." She replied, a determination to her eyes. Youko found himself pleasantly speechless.

"_Did I not tell you she would have come anyway if you had mentioned these atrocities to her, Youko?" _His human half teased as he basked in relieved feelings that normally only came to him post-traumatic-event. He did not like feeling that he had misinformed or lied to her. It was good to know she would have come either way. It eased the feelings he realized were guilt and made his chest flutter with a lightness that hadn't been there before.

"Tenshi…" Overcome with emotions he was not aware existed in his chest, he embraced her. She stiffened upon his touch but relaxed into his hold almost immediately. A few seconds in, she had dared to slowly slide her arms around his middle. Calmly, as if she knew the turmoil he had held back from her, she rubbed circles into his back.

He could not believe how warm she was, physically and emotionally.

"I apologize, regardless…" He murmured into the fur of her shawl. It smelled all too much like the foxes of his past and he decided he did not like the scent on her. Slowly, gently, he slid the item off of her shoulders. It was warm in the room, anyway.

She opened her mouth and gasped into his neck so silently only he could have ever heard it for his ears heard nearly everything at such close proximity. He buried his nose into her skin and inhaled. Her human scent was altered, but it was still there if he avoided scenting the blood on her skin. He exhaled in a weary, but relieved sigh.

"Youko?" She queried, afraid like a startled fawn. He held her small torso tighter, closer to his larger chest. If it were not disgusting and entirely possible, he would rip open his chest and place her inside where he would never lose her, neither to danger nor to age, distance or circumstance.

He did not know what these feelings were. He had never experienced them until now. Why was he so astonishingly grateful for simply knowing her and unbelievably unwilling to lose her?

"_Shuichi… I don't understand…"_ He begged his human half; practically pleaded, expressing his confusion and lack of knowledge. Only Shuichi would know what was going on. Youko did not understand fear, elation, adoration, and yearning all at once. It all seemed like a type of spirit energy churning in his chest. It slightly tingled and made him feel warm. He understood warmth and love. Those he felt for their mutual human mother. But this… he did not understand.

"_I believe this is what the euphoria of love feels like, Youko…" _Shuichi spoke in quiet tones in his mind, as if treading on fragile eggshells.

"_Why is there fear? I could kill the next person that speaks to her…" _Youko realized he suddenly felt very protective. The mere _thought _of Yukito _speaking _to her encouraged his most base and primal instincts: to kill and destroy. He was surprised to find that he had to bite back a growl.

"_Because you want her in no one else's interests but your own. Love is very selfish. You must understand that there will be many suitors who will ask of her, Youko." _Shuichi explained in the tone he used for children.

"_But if she picks one other than us?_" He flicked back almost childishly and certainly with an underlying resentment that he was sure his other half knew was towards him. A pang of embarrassment and determination hit Shuichi at that moment and his human half seemed to be mentally strengthening himself for the rest of their conversation.

"_If she is ours she will not wander away in such a manner. At least, that is how things ideally work in human relationships. Being with someone and then accepting someone else on the side is called 'cheating'. This is why you want an honest, open, and solid—excuse the dated term— 'mate' for yourself…" _Shuichi explained as much as he could at once. Youko understood the basics, filling in the blanks of social norms with things he remembered from romance novels Shuichi once read. 

"_Why have you not made your intent to court her clear?" _Now there was anger he could not control towards the redhead. How many times had he told Shuichi the woman was ideal for them _both_? She needed to know that they were serious about courting her! She probably _still _had no idea! How would she ever know if neither of them told her!?

"_Because I believe we missed that train… so to speak…" _Shuichi was regretful, and it kept Youko from losing his temper. "_I apologize for the time I spent believing I could be happy with Botan, Youko…" _

Impossible. It was over before it even began? Who was the one that ruled over these things? That was a preposterous notion! The feelings in his chest wanted to become physical beings and rebel against the thought that he had missed his chance with such a beautiful soul.

No. Youko Kurama and Shuichi Minamino did not simply "miss" chances. Obviously, the world was not created that way. He would not settle for such a dismal outcome.

"_You will try harder." _He threatened icily, because he would not calmly sit back and watch her fall in love with another man. He would not let her mate with someone who did not deserve her as much as Shuichi did. He would not—

She suddenly became slack in his arms. For a single horrific moment in time he believed he had suffocated her accidentally, but her steady, deep breaths relaxed him instantaneously. She had fallen asleep. Her arms had fallen to her sides and she was fully relaxed against him, as she _should _be. She seemed _right _in his arms. There was no other way to describe the feeling.

Gently, as if she were a precious treasure, Youko Kurama lifted and adjusted her so she was laying down, facing him. He cradled her in his arms and tried to fall asleep, but sleep unfortunately did not come…

-X-

She dreamt of white and gold until someone shook her ever so gently. She awoke to more white and _smoldering, beautiful_ gold more vivid than the gold in her dreams. She gasped and shot straight up, embarrassed that she fell asleep so blatantly on one of the sexiest and most notorious thieves of demon world, and was rewarded with colliding her forehead with the said thieves' chin. She hissed in pain.

"Ouch…" She rubbed her forehead and leaned away from his warmth.

_Is his chin made of steel or something? I hope this doesn't give me a headache… then again, Genkai's punched me harder… _

She groaned as she rubbed the aching spot. Youko's hand covered her own. She felt his energy spark in his hand and soon, a soothing feeling overcame her. She yawned, already falling back asleep, but was promptly shaken again.

"Mm, whaaat?" She groaned. The soothing green energy was nice… _really _nice...

_More sleep please…_

Youko's chuckle brought her back to reality.

"I never thought you'd be borderline _irritable_ upon waking." He commented as if cutely making fun of her was his day-to-day job. _Curse him and his ability to be so nonchalant in non-nonchalant situations… ugh…._

"She glared at him. Only when I want to continue sleeping." She defended near-obnoxiously, coaxing an easy smirk out of him. "I'm sorry I fell asleep on you…" She suddenly blushed cutely and he could not help himself from grinning.

"Was I comfortable?" He queried out of pure curiosity.

"What?" She questioned back, a confused, suspicious look on her small face.

_Is this a trick question? _

"Was I comfortable?" He repeated, this time slowly, in-case she was still groggy from her nap.

"Well… yeah that's why I fell asleep in the first place." She replied, confused and still slightly miffed. He really _was_ comfortable to sleep on. She blushed at the reminder of sharing a bed with him.

_Oh my god I slept with Youko Kurama… technically… _

"Please feel free to partake in my comfort later tonight as well, then." He responded easily, as if tossing the phrase over his shoulder. She gaped at him in response.

No jokes? No perverted remarks?

No. It was too suspicious. There was _always _ a joke between her and Youko and usually, she was always the butt-end of it!

"What's with you?" She asked with narrowed, suspicious eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. He cocked an eyebrow in response.

"Pardon?" He politely responded.

"That. What's with that? Why are you so polite? Did you do something while I was sleeping?" She mercilessly interrogated. He grinned slyly and she lost her composure. Oh no… he was _perfectly _normal… he just _lured _her into a verbal trap!

"Would you have liked me doing things to you whilst asleep?" He purred back with practiced ease.

"What! No! Ugh okay you're normal again, nevermind!" She shook her head free of thoughts of him waking her up to a kiss or something else perverse. She was still _unsatisfied_ from the fiasco earlier and did _not _want to feel turned-on for the rest of the night!

Youko chuckled and handed her a jug of water from beneath the platform their bed was resting atop.

"Drink and freshen. We leave in five minutes." He supplied as he slid off of the bed, giving no indication of how much he actually _yearned _to have her back in his arms. He would have to watch his actions carefully when around Yukito. If his body language gave any indication of his newfound… _attachment_(?) to this woman it would tip Yukito off and the unbearable demon would use that to torture his Tenshi more… He combed his fingers through his hair and stretched as he listened to the water sliding down her esophagus. When she was done she sighed, as if she were parched before.

"This water is slightly minty…" She commented. "It's not drugged right?" She added with a tense lilt in her tone.

He chuckled, turned and looked at her. She was sitting with her legs tucked prettily to her side, one hand supporting her body weight on the bed. He allowed himself to drink her appearance in until she blushed at his gaze. He then shook his head in quiet response, realizing he had not answered her for several moments.

"No. It is not." He affirmed, just to have another chance to communicate with her. She shrugged, then frowned at him as if she remembered something unpleasant. He allowed himself to frown with her, because that is what his body naturally wanted to do.

"Did… you and Yukito have a big fight or a falling-out in the past?" She asked hesitantly at first, as if she were afraid of being rude, but gained confidence steadily throughout her sentence.

"Yes. We did." His response was automatic. It was not a fight he liked speaking of but she had read his and Yukito's underlying actions perfectly at their initial meeting and guessed correctly. Did she not deserve the right to now? In his mind she absolutely did.

"Oh… Okay." Surprisingly she did not ask for details, but he found that he wanted to give them to her anyway.

"Yukito wanted to mate with Cevilli. The elders had agreed. I had refused." He replied.

"Why?" She asked, eyes wide at the secret he revealed.

Youko smirked.

"Because Cevilli had loved a human male at the time. Biologically, she and Yukito would mate well and produce strong offspring… however, Cevilli would much rather have erased Yukito's existence instead. She once claimed she would rather not have him 'pollute her genes'." Youko chuckled. "It was not in her place to refuse him, however—by law and social norm, of course— so I stepped up as a male of our den against my and Yukito's fathers. The battle was not easy, but I won my sister's freedom to choose who to mate with." He finished and watched her mouth drop. Again, she covered it quickly with her hand. He mentally chuckled at how she would never forget his words to her about her open mouth, even subconsciously. Her grey-blue eyes widened and she dropped her hand to speak.

"But Yukito's so strong! How did you ever verse him _and_ your father _and _win!?" She queried, clearly excited by his tale and skill.

"Yukito was younger at the time. He was still unbelievably inexperienced. His energy was nowhere near as strong as it is today. I believe that fight taught him to train his body and mind harder. He has never let go of the fact that he had lost to me, however." He explained. "My father was strong but I always had the ability to surpass him in strength. In that battle, I absolutely had to." He added further detail. He watched a slow smile spread on her face, and found himself easily smiling back.

"That's cool. You must really have a great relationship with Cevilli." Her eyes had a hint of sadness in them and Shuichi's memories helped discern that she did not share a strong familial bond with her sister. He frowned at her. He did not like her hiding her sadness. It irked him and made him want to erase it.

"What?" She asked, now completely confused at his sour expression. He shook his head in response. His feelings would be a discussion for another time. The event coming up would indefinitely take a toll on her psyche.

"Nothing. Let's go. Cevilli is shuffling about…" he began quietly, "…quite loudly enough!" He then snapped, whipping his head towards the door with a glare to make a deliberate point. Trisha giggled, then grabbed the fox fur shawl and leapt off of the bed. Cevilli and Youko were truly siblings. It was times like these that their entertaining banter or expressions reminded her that to each other they were at one point kitsune youngsters that grew up together.

-X-

The sacrificial feast was being held in a separate wing in a square room. Trisha, Youko, Cevilli, Yukito, some female fox demon just as beautiful as Cevilli, an older looking fox demon couple and several others who seemed liked nobles or guards all gathered around a square, wooden table that overlooked a dirt pit. The room was dimly alight with sconces of fire on the walls and several red-colored paper lanterns above. Many plants grew on the walls and in the center of the dirt pit was a pole with firewood that stood about three feet away from a heavy-looking, square table. The bloodstains on the table in the center of the pit indicated that many creatures had died their before. It gave Trisha the idea that it may even function as a sort of large cutting board and she shivered at the thought.

Trisha, Youko, Cevilli and two guard-looking fox demons were sitting against one wall. Yukito, the pretty demoness and the older fox couple were sitting opposite of them against the opposite wall. Two nobles, a male and a female and sat in between two burly older-looking guards against the wall to Trisha's left and two more nobles, both males who looked like brothers sat against the wall to her right in between another set of guards, these looking much younger than the guards to her left. Trisha sat in between Youko and Cevilli and watched as two demons, obviously slaves, walked in with a little girl. Both demons had straight, jet-black hair that was messy and uncombed. They each had varying shades of crimson-red eyes. They were of different heights and ages and one was more scarred-up than the other. Both of their torsos were naked and they wore brown, itchy-looking pants, tied with a rope at the waist. Neither had shoes to cover their feet.

The little girl looked petrified. Her cheeks were rosy, though bony, and her eyes were a brilliant shade of ruby. She had beautiful, thick, black hair that tickled the middle of her back and wispy side bangs with one shocking streak of white cascading through them. She too wore a burlap dress, held together at the middle of her still-straight waist. She looked frightened that she had to be taken in there with her hands tied in front.

"Youko…" She whispered, her voice barely above a whisper. Youko raised his hand and placed it on her knee. She looked up worriedly at him and he shook his head in defeat.

Yes. The girl was the sacrifice. No. They couldn't _do_ anything. Trisha felt sick. Her stomach became sour.

The two demons left, looking bitter and angry. It was clear that the little girl was of their race, yet they could do nothing to help their kin. The vines around their necks obviously prevented them from utilizing their demon energy by disrupting it with an energy of a different frequency. Their strength, skill and speed was no match for their opponents. Any opposition meant death. The two men, as strong and muscled as they looked, were as helpless as she.

When she looked at the girl's thin neck, Trisha realized she too had a vine there. Even the youngest ones were enslaved…

Trisha panicked as she saw Yukito vault over the square table. Was he going to be the executioner?! The little girl flinched and started to choke back sobs. She knew she would be beaten if she cried aloud, yet she knew this was the end for her... how dismal and defeating. Trisha steeled her expression.

She could hear nothing but her own heartbeat.

Thump-thump…

_Can I let this slide? _

Thump-thump…

_She's so little… _

"My fellow guests and elders, tonight we dine in elegance. This sacrifice shall begin another glorious, delicious Gathering…" Yukito's voice registered in her head, but his words were lost in her mind. They did not matter. They would only anger her if she understood them.

He made a sword out of a single, thick vine that wrapped itself around his arm like a muscle. The girl must have squeaked in fear as he grabbed her by her tiny shoulder.

_Why is no one saying anything?_ Trisha looked to the other fox demons of the room. Were they really all right with this? Her mind felt fuzzy from the nausea of her stomach and the adrenaline in her veins.

Then she _really_ looked at the other fox demons. Some innate and infinitesimal _instinct _told her to look at their mouths. They were _ever so slightly _frowning. _Frowning. _When she really studied their eyes, she realized it wasn't a frown of disapproval of the feast itself, but of the _meal. _They were _disgusted _at what they had to eat, but weren't bold or, she supposed, _rude_ enough to say something about it!

Thump-thump…

Yukito raised the sword.

_What do I do? How do I say something and not sound like a total square? Think! _

Thump-thump… The sword was swung. It fell almost in slow-motion towards the girls neck.

That was it!

"Wait." In her haste to stand up and cause a disturbance, her chair scraped the wooden floor beneath her feet and would have tipped backwards to hit the polished surface if Youko had not saved it from its doom.

Yukito halted, a slick, cocked brow in place. He looked as if he dared her to give him a good enough reason to stop his stupid ceremony— in which she deducted from one noble's face— he was _obviously _conducting and effectively _screwing up_ for the first time. She almost smirked because she had the _perfect _reason to stop him.

"Yukito-sama do you take me for a fool?" She queried in confidence, narrowing her eyes for special effect. Youko's hand had slipped off of her thigh, but even he was looking at her in confusion. She could see alarm in his honey orbs from the corner of her right eye. She studied Yukito intently. Tears were streaming down the little girl's face. Her cries were silent in the tense air.

_That's right Yukito… DO you take me for a fool? You think I didn't know enough about your culture to open my mouth… but I do know JUST enough and believe me I WILL say something about this! _

"Pardon? Ms. Tiri?" He politely, intoned, just barely hiding his angry glare behind dulled amber eyes.

Trisha tsked slowly… three times… again just for special effect and reviewed her mental list of things fox demons _obviously _liked to eat.

"Really, Yukito-sama. I thought you would have gotten us a _true _morsel to eat tonight. Just because I am partially human and do not spend much time in this world, does not under any circumstances mean I am unfamiliar or impartial to the proper cuisine." She could barely contain her smirk.

Yuktio's eyes widened. She had him there. _Nailed it! _

"I would prefer a grilled imp, or perhaps skewered hatefish and ale. This demon is food for trash much beneath our standards, don't you think?" She queried, then looked to the other fox demons at the table. The old guy on the right had grey hair and ears and his eyes were a faded honey. He nodded at Yukito in silent agreement.

"We are already late… It would take time to catch an imp or hatefish…" Yukito argued darkly in an effort to save his plan that she had already blown up in his face.

"Nonsense, Yukito. I remember Itoro catching three live imps this morning as a precaution. Surely it would only take a minute or so for the servants to come back with one of the older ones. I'd rather not sour my intestines with the remains of this specimen as well. Besides, Ami-chan stitches my daughters kimonos perfectly. I believe that talent would go to waste." The old guy explained. Wow. The little girl had a name: Ami. She had a name yet he still insulted her… yet he would have let her become slaughtered. She didn't know what to even begin to think….

Yukito glared holes into Trisha, but she plastered a polite smile onto her face.

"Very well…" He snapped his fingers and immediately the two demons came back in to collect Ami. After being told to hurry up with an imp or die for taking too long, they scurried out, Ami-chan in tow. The room fell into a momentary silence, until the young girl who was sitting next to Yukito stood up. She looked to be about Youko's age and her eyes twinkled a silvery-honey color in the dim light.

She was absolutely stunning. Her hair was silky and snow-white and had gold threads woven into it. She wore a sultry kimono even more revealing than Cevilli's and several diamonds decorated her obi, her neck and her ears. She bowed to Trisha and Trisha bowed back, wondering if the demoness' breasts would spill out of her kimono. Somehow, they miraculously didn't.

"My name is Izuru." She introduced. Great. Youko's ex. "I am amazed you are familiar with kitsune cuisine. Not many know how great a feast grilled imp truly is." She complemented.

_Thank you Akaru… Thank you Akaru…. Thank you thank you thank you! _If he hadn't crashed next to her that day with that disgusting thing under his arm she would have never known!

Trisha chuckled, trying to ease the tenseness out of her voice. It was like being afraid of a wild animal, but knowing that it could smell your fear if you slipped up in front of it: terrible.

"I _love_ grilled Imp. It is one of the many delicacies the Southern clan has graciously treated me to." She smiled back prettily and lied perfectly while paying her complements to Cevilli's tribe.

"Ah, I would have never guessed the Southern clan had any class." Izuru insulted almost obliviously. If Trisha were Cevilli she would have decked her right there but thankfully Cevilli only smiled wryly. Izuru was clearly on her death-list now. Wonderful.

"Oh they do. The ale is exquisite." She commented quickly to avoid awkwardness. "My name is Trisha, by the way. You may all refer to me as Tiri. I am told it is easier to pronounce my name that way anyway." She bowed once more, this time to the whole room. Yukito looked peeved with his arms crossed in a casual "I'm annoyed" pose against the small slaughter table. His tail was swooshing in a volatile way.

Just before the silence grew awkward, the demons from before burst through the doors to the room, dragging a horrendously screeching, bloodied-up blue imp with green patches of hair around its private areas, pubic areas and atop its head. Its skin was slightly scaly and its yellow eyes looked frightened. Trisha was sad for it. But when the demon slaves left, and she sat down and watched Yukito slice its head off, she realized she had made the better choice. It wasn't right to slaughter lesser demons just because they didn't look human like the girl did, no of course not. That demon probably had feelings and intelligence too, regardless of having a common language or not. However, she had saved a small _child_. At least the imp looked hardy and old.

Blood splattered across the dirt on the floor in the center as the head rolled off and the fox demons cheered. Trisha felt dizzy and sick as Youko grabbed her hand in his. Thankfully the entirety of the table was covered in a floor-length red cloth and no one saw what was going on and would not know unless their expressions indicated anything.

Cevilli also placed a comforting hand on her left knee and rubbed circles into the skin.

She squeezed Youko's hand. Supportively, the ancient demon squeezed back.

The smell that infiltrated the room afterwards was putrid. It was all she could do to look straight ahead at Yukito so the rest of the room would stop spinning.

_Don't faint… don't faint… _

She remembered the light leave from the Imp's eyes and felt sick again. She held back the tears and concentrated on something else.

_1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8…_

By the time she counted to eight, Yukito had taken his seat and the pair of demons from before, "the executioners" as Trisha dubbed them in her mind, removed the bloodied table, set up a fire pit and diligently staked the Imp from bottom orifice to top orifice. Smoke rose and exited through a strategic hole in the ceiling, perfect for indoor cooking.

She was still emotional over the Imp when small conversations between the demons sprung up. Youko took the opportunity to speak to her then. Leaning down, he casually whispered into her ear.

"Good choice, detective." He complemented in his "I'm being a confident troll" tone. Trisha didn't take it to heart, knowing that he was just putting on a show because the demons in the room could hear them regardless of the illusion of privacy their whispering gave her. Naturally, he didn't want to sound suspicious and counted on her ability to be able to decipher his words. He had really meant to tell her that she had done a goo job in besting Yukito and saving Ami-chan while looking like a seasoned honorary kitsune in the process. Good thing he had told her to nap beforehand, because now that she thought about it… doing all that was tiring. Not to mention the stress directly beforehand had taken its toll on her mind.

"Thanks." She numbly, coldly responded. She would cry later. Now was the time to shut off her emotions and play "politician".

Once her voice proved she was no longer out of mental control, Youko's hand was gone; perfectly in time for a servant to walk by and serve berries, nuts and fruits. Numbly, Trisha munched on what was put on a Lilly-pad plate in front of her.

Soon enough ale and imp was served, with a toast to the Eastern Clan's newest guest and her good surprisingly good taste in food.

Yes. If you're wondering, she ate the poor imp meat... with a smile on her face and a laugh in her tone. It tasted like pork except less salty. She had to eat it in order to keep up appearances. After initially tasting it, she even smiled and gave complements to the warrior who caught the imp and the demons who seasoned it. By that time the ale she drank had kicked in and she was too drunk to remember her pain, completely stuck in the persona she created for herself in her mind What was done, was done. She would deal with the guilt and trauma later.

By the end of the night she was leaning on Cevilli and didn't remember how she got to her and Youko's shared bed. Upon the bed, the fox demon immediately handed her a jug of water. Wordlessly, she began to chug it as he pulled the alcohol out of the tissues of her innards through an incision in her skin and with expert control of his healing energy. When he was done, a swirling ball of booze and other gooey innards spun inside the energy hovering directly above his palm. He healed the incision with his the free finger of his left hand, walked over to the bathroom through a sliding door on the adjacent wall and dumped the waste into the toilet.

By the time he was back, Trisha had her face buried in her knees and was quietly crying in a huddled position against the large, fluffy pillows. Calmly, the ancient climbed atop the bed and held her, as he had before and as he had longed to hold her since then.

"Why do you cry?" He whispered, his deep but mellow tone vibrating in his chest against her ear.

She sniffled pettily before she spoke, her sinuses becoming stuffy from her tears.

"Because no demon should die like that. No living creature deserves that…" She whispered as quietly as possible. Youko peered down at her, stunned as he rubbed her back and relieved her of the fox fur she wore on her shoulders.

"That one was old and ripe." He soothed, not fully understanding her pain. Killing was normal. What had to die, had to die so he could live. That was it.

"It was still scared and powerless." She hissed back, less defeated and more angry this time.

"But it was ready to die regardless. Ami was not…" He reminded sternly in response.

"Uh-huh… I know…" She replied weakly and tried to stop crying. She hated watching something die. It didn't matter what it was. For the longest time she cried her pain away and tried to come to terms with things in her mind while Youko picked gold and jewels out of her hair, delicately laying each piece on the floor next to their bed. It wasn't long before she rested her head in his lap and he began to gently rub her bare shoulder.

The action eventually soothed her into calmness.

"At least Ami is alive." She whispered later on and stood up to clean herself off in the bathroom. Once inside she blew her nose and wiped her eyes. She glared at herself in the full-length mirror that hung against the wall before returning to the room. She tried to focus on the positive things. At least her neck didn't hurt that much with all the jewelry picked out of her hair. And her hair looked cool. It was in all braids and most of it was silver-looking… She frowned at herself. No. There was no excuse. She may be beautiful on the outside but her soul felt ugly and wretched. She took comfort in the fact that she did what she absolutely could. She made the best possible choice. She would confide in Genkai when she returned to the temple as well.

Youko was lounging on the bed, fiddling with a gold hair piece. His ears twitched and he looked up when he saw her in the room. She looked awkward and vulnerable and he decided to try to ease those feelings out of her.

"I wanted to complement your quick use of knowledge." He murmured. She weakly smiled at him. She was proud of herself too... somewhere in there… It made Shuichi inside of him feel better to see her coming around as well.

"Thanks. I wouldn't have known if everyone else didn't look too happy to eat the stuff." She explained.

Youko shook his head in fascination.

"Your ability to read faces is unprecedented." He complemented and watched as she jumped on the bed and tackled him into a hug. He tensed for a moment, but relaxed and hugged her back.

"Thank you." She mumbled into his tunic. No one had ever been there to hold her while she cried.

He squeezed her tighter in response wishing he could kiss her but knowing it was inappropriate.

For a while they remained in a tight embrace, Youko rubbing her back for good measure. Eventually the fox demon lulled whom he considered "his" human woman into a deep sleep…

-X-

SO. That was stressful. Jeez. Poor Ami-chan! T_T Poor me! I don't wanna go back to studying! I wish I had someone to save ME ;_; !

ANYway!

Leave reviews pwetty pwease!

I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho! All rights reserved to Yoshihiro Togashi!

See ya later Space Cowboy!


	32. Revelations

WEEDS CAN TURN INTO FLOWERS

|32|

For the third time that night, Youko Kurama had found himself awake and not in the world of his dreams. Frowning, he gazed out of the nearby window and deducted that another two hours had passed. The first two times he awoke, he had been asleep for sixty minutes each time. This time at least, he managed to have a longer nap.

A small hand curled tightly around his tunic and his honey eyes were averted to the sleeping woman at his side. Her hair was still braided, albeit this time loose around her face. Frowning, he decided he liked her darker locks better than the silver tones that covered them currently. He found himself unexcited for the morning and greatly wished that his human half was awake enough to speak to. Unfortunately, Shuichi slumbered as deeply as his _tenshi_ in his arms, leaving Youko to his loneliness.

The fox demon placed a hand on the human woman's beautiful face and stroked his thumb across her cheekbone. In her sleep, she smiled in response and pleasantly grumbled something indecipherable. A smile graced his face in response. She liked his touch. Yes, the woman was asleep, but it warmed him to know she did not fear him or that he did not instill discomfort in her mind. She shimmied closer to him and settled her nose and forehead against his chest. She inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly, her breathing pattern indicating that she was still asleep. Her movements had caused the scarlet silk covering their bodies to slip off of her shoulders. Diligently, he covered her once more with the sheet, unwilling to surrender her to the chill of the night.

Her eyes continued to move behind her eyelids as she dreamed, most likely a pleasant dream. Nothing like his own. He found himself wondering if she dreamt about him at all or if something else was in her mind as of now. As she nuzzled into him he sighed in relaxation and let his hand slide from her face to the middle of her back. The small hand that gripped his clothing twitched and he became as still as the trunk of a tree, afraid to wake her.

Unfortunately, her eyes fluttered open and groggily settled on him.

"Youko?" She murmured sleepily. Oh, how he loved the way his name rolled off of her tongue. His language was not native to her and her accent differed ever so slightly from the rest of the population around him. He gave her a subtle smile, hoping it did not morph into the smirk he was so used to wearing.

"Sleep, _Tenshi_." He urged in a soft whisper, rubbing gentle, slow circles into the soft skin of her back. He watched as her cerulean eyes grew sharp with a witty response, but then dull as his ministrations lulled her back to sleep before she could say anything smart-mouthed. He couldn't help but chuckle as her eyelids fell shut, as if they were weighted.

He was astonished at how easy it was to relax her. If Ren had really wanted to take her away, he should have just petted her head or rubbed her shoulder. She would have stayed silently asleep and blissfully unaware of his evil-doings.

He frowned at that thought and came to the conclusion that he was glad that neither of Ren's kidnappings had transpired that way. If they had he would not be holding her here.

"_Youko?"_ His human mind sounded groggy as well. He felt the fog of Shuichi's mind lift as it connected with his own.

"_Ah, forgive me. Did my thoughts trouble your dreams?" _He responded, too weary to come up with anything snarkier.

"_No. More like I sensed you awake in my sleep." _Shuichi responded. Youko felt Shuichi's eyes behind his own. His other half wanted to gaze at their _tenshi_'s beauty as well. Youko obliged and swept his eyes, now _their_ eyes, over her sleeping form, slowly…

"_I suppose you could say I do not want this night to end. Perhaps that is why I cannot simply sleep it away." _Youko revealed, knowing Shuichi was probably already aware of this fact.

"_Mm." _The human agreed. Youko felt Shuichi smiling and shamelessly smiled as well.

"_What is the reasoning behind your content?" _He asked a moment later, curious about his other half, despite only half-paying-attention to him. Shuichi chuckled in response.

"_You're entertaining to watch when you're emotional." _Shuichi easily revealed. Youko nodded and watched the tips of his hair glide over his _tenshi_'s hand.

"_She is ideal and I love her. It does not become any more entertaining than that, given who and what I am, I suppose." _Youko agreed, also a chuckle in his tone. He felt foolish but wonderful. Elated, but worried. He had wondered while awake if these feelings and notions were normal but decided that they must be and wholeheartedly accepted them. He smirked despite himself and wondered if he could manage to steal a kiss from her. It would certainly be the most precious treasure he'd have ever stolen. Even better yet, it would be a treasure no one but he would ever be able to see.

"_Be careful not to wake her. You will have explaining to do and she may react negatively…" _Shuichi warned as he watched her eyes dance behind her eyelids once more. Youko smirked to himself. His human half was just that… his human _half_. Shuichi and he were as one as "one" could be. They were both very perceptive to each other in a way that was initially awkward, but became familiar and correct as the years flew by.

"_I don't believe I care what happens, Shuichi... I want to steal this kiss, regardless of the consequences." _He leaned downwards and kissed her forehead, applying a slight pressure, hoping she would move her head in the direction he wished her too. Luckily for him, she did so with ease. Smirking, he lowered his lips gently to hers, now that he had access to them, and kissed them. Initially, she did not respond, but a few seconds later, she slowly, groggily kissed back, as if it were an instinct of hers. He almost groaned, not out of sexual tension, but out of relief.

He had been wanting, no, that was incorrect: _needing _her lips for what seemed like _years_… for what may have actually _been _years. This was his first time kissing a female with anything that wasn't lust and it felt exciting and new and _perfect _to him. He regretfully pulled away, not wishing to test his luck any further and watched as a smile bloomed on the lips he just caressed. He sincerely hoped she was enjoying her dream. After the tears she had shed this night she deserved, at the very least, pleasant dreams.

"_Her life will not be easy. She _is_ the Spirit Detective." _Shuichi chimed into his thoughts; ever the voice of reason and logic and naturally a small degree of anxiety. He almost glared nastily at his other self.

"_Do you not understand that I do not wish to be disturbed from my current euphoria, Shuichi?" _He queried in annoyance. His human half brushed off his comment and chuckled instead. _"Besides, I am aware of the facts. She has a difficult road ahead of her. I will damn us both to the worst recesses of Spirit World upon our death if you do not make certain you are there to help her when you can, Shuichi." _He could not help but make his point clear. It was even accidental that his request somehow verbalized as a threat.

"_I thought you could trust me to be there for her, Youko." _Shuichi responded almost sadly and the fox demon became remorseful for a moment. Perhaps it was not entirely Shuichi's fault that they were uncertain now of their future with this woman…

"_If and when you can, Shuichi."_ He clarified, an ease to his tone that he knew his other half would decipher as a subtle apology for his sudden abrasiveness.

Shuichi nodded and their conversation ended. He could almost feel his human halves' hand on his shoulder as the other mind descended back into peaceful slumber. Somehow, Shuichi's weariness reminded him of his own and his eyes fluttered shut as he hoped he would not dream of dead comrades and violence, but of a beautiful woman waiting to be with him and only him.

-X-

"Tenshi…" Youko whispered and shook the woman. It was almost time to rise. There were many acquaintances to be made today before the treaty would be brought into the conversation. If Youko was lucky, Trisha's charm would "infect" the nobles and political figures of the clan as much as it had infected him and things would go smoothly later on.

She groaned in response and shoved his hand off of her shoulder. He looked at her, dumbfounded. He didn't think he could ever get used to someone shoving him around… ever.

"Go…t'sleep…." She grumbled, then turned over, grabbed a pillow and placed it over her face.

Youko was amazed. Trisha really had an astounding degree of bravado when it came to her sleep. He chuckled evilly, knowing exactly what would not only wake her, but possibly give her a heart attack in the process. He waited for her to sleep, and slowly slid the sheet off of her. The air was still cool as it was dawn, but it didn't seem to affect her.

Slowly, he kissed up her leg, skipped over the hem of her skirt and began to gently kiss the curse of her side. Unfazed, she continued sleeping. Put out, he pouted to himself. His plan had failed. It was time for a more drastic measure. He stood up on the bed to his full height. Trisha rolled over towards him now that the mattress beneath them had warped to accommodate his weight centered in one spot. He bent over, pushed the pillow off of her face and picked her up.

"Wai… wha..?" Truthfully, he should have stopped there. But he _was_ a kitsune and mischief _was_ in his nature. Just as her eyelids began to flutter open, he dropped her. She shrieked, hit the mattress, lost her breath due to the force of her impact, bounced up again, then settled back down with a scathing glare on her face. It was not long before she was furious. It was only a millisecond before she lunged at him. Elegantly, he accepted her assault, quite literally with a smirk and open arms, twisted her once her fists had clenched around his shirt, flipped her back down on the bed and finally positioned himself atop her, using her hip-area as a seat.

"Good morning, Tenshi." He greeted casually. Still peeved, she took in a deep breath to calm herself before she responded.

"That was a rude awakening." She replied in a clipped tone. He smirked, her feistiness somehow turning him on.

"Perhaps you don't remember, but I made several attempts to wake you _more than politely _before I had to resort to measures more drastic." He responded in his usual mischievous tone. He kept one hand on his hip, the other holding her wrists together above her head. She blushed furiously at his response.

"S-Sorry… for whatever I did… I'm really not great at being woken up…" she spoke quietly.

And just like that he wanted to kiss her again. Subtly, he bit the inside of his lip to control himself and climbed off of her.

"Regardless, Tenshi, we must be going soon… there is much for us to do today. Do try to make _friends_."

She watched as Youko bent to take a drink of the delicious mint-water in the jug at the foot of their bed. She knew what he meant: Make allies. It would improve their chances of getting the right things done right. She sighed.

"Don't worry…" She responded and held her hand out to grasp the jug. When he was done he gave her a meaningful "I trust you" type of look with a subtle nod and handed her the jug. She tipped it to drink and the smooth liquid was ideal to quench her thirst while simultaneously freshening her breath and preparing her stomach for any nasty food that she would have to eat today. She would have to find out from Youko how the mint-water was made so she could make it herself at home. It did wonders for upset stomachs.

Summer was technically almost over in the human world and about a month after the completion of this little side-trip she was on she would have to go back to her family's house. Actually, she should be visiting her dad soon anyway. The more strenuous parts of her training were technically over and she would have time to see her friends and family. She was actually curious as to how Alyssa was doing anyway. Maybe she would Skype a bit with Angelica too and see what was up back in the states.

She shook her head as an overwhelming sense of age and stress hit her. Not long ago she was just a normal teenaged girl. Now, when she looked at her "demon tattoos" and epic muscle tone, she didn't know what to think of herself or even what to label herself. She placed the jug down and jumped out of bed. She heard Youko fiddling to put his shoes on and slipped into the pretty flats she had been given. Absently, she wondered if Cevilli would let her keep them. Actually, she _prayed _that she would. Alyssa would freak out if she knew they were one-of-a-kind! She grinned at the gold-tipped shoes and stood up to stretch.

"You can leave the fox pelt here today if you wish. It will be warm today." Youko's voice interrupted her mind and she turned around to smile at him.

"Okay." She responded easily. Youko's eye captured her own and for a split second they just looked at each other. However, a knock sounded at their door all-too-soon. It was obvious by her energy signature who stood behind it.

"Enter, Cevilli." Youko responded.

Cevilli stepped in, looked at the bed, to Youko then to Trisha. She frowned. Trisha didn't get it, but Youko shook his head as if he knew exactly what was to come.

"So… no heirs to the Northern tribe yet, Nii-sama?" She slyly poked at her brother. Trisha almost died.

_Oh my God! What is this woman thinking!_

Youko chuckled at Trisha and she knew her expression must look horrified. In fact, it was. She was blushing and looking at Cevilli with comical betrayal. Even Cevilli laughed.

"Your facial expressions are so entertaining ojou-sama!" Sevilli grinned. "I wish to poke fun only to see them." She revealed.

"You kitsune…" She eventually grumbled, peeved.

"Yes we all like to have our fun." Youko smirked as he walked up to his sister and hugged her. Cevilli hugged him back. Trisha smiled at the exchange.

"Let us meet with Izuru and Yukito. I believe they have something planned for us to do. After all, we have a guest and festivities…" Cevilli explained as they let each other go.

Youko nodded almost gravely and Trisha couldn't help but notice the tenseness in his shoulders.

_I really hope Izuru isn't the one behind this "much to do" stuff otherwise.. Cevilli and I are screwed… No, scratch that. I'm screwed. Cevilli can handle Izuru, I just can't…_

-X-

Well it turned out that she didn't have much to do at all. The kitsune were going to have a private feast later on before the discussion of the treaty. Cevilli picked Izuru out of the group and asked if the fox demoness would like to go shopping with her. Trisha was sure that was some subtle female declaration of war, but she opted to explore the city instead of join the males on their hunting trip.

Yukito had called over a slave that physically looked to be only a few years older than herself. He looked to be about twenty but she was sure in actuality he was older. Apparently, he was Yukito's "scribe". Though he was a slave, he was obviously treated better because of this. He was dressed in cotton black pants, accompanied with a red sash and wore black shoes. He carried a set of pens pencils and art tools in a cloth that slung across his well-muscled torso.

What was the most stunning about him was his facial features. She was certain she had seen them somewhere before on someone else... His eyes were such a deep red they looked brown and his hair was jet black and fell in messy layers around his face and shoulders. She inspected his face as he politely smiled back at her, while Yukito told him to accompany her and show her around. Youko seemed miffed at the choice, but Yukito implied that "Tiri" was able to take care of herself and that that was the only slave from the main palace that was available upon such short notice.

Shrugging, Trisha watched the group of young and old kitsune take off over the wall and into the forest beyond it. One of the older females Bowed to her. If Trisha's memory served correctly, the woman's name was Mirumi. She was the wife of Tezuo. She looked no older than 30 and was dressed in a demure white and pastel pink kimono and delicately crafted wooden sandals with pink straps. Her hair was half pulled up and half loose in an interesting coif, a set of pink and gold sticks holding it in place. Trisha politely bowed back.

"I am looking forward to our dinner together, Tiri-san. You seem like an interesting young lady. Perhaps we can speak of your mixed heritage." The woman politely spoke in a very elegant and refined tone, as if somewhere in her long life she took geisha lessons or something. Trisha smiled back at her in response.

"Of course. I'd be more than happy to tell you as much as I myself know, Mirumi-sama." She spoke, feeling at ease with the woman. There was a calmness about her that Trisha appreciated. She was not frazzled and angry and two-faced like Yukito; not in the slightest.

The demoness nodded in return, and left to do whatever it is she had planned for the day, leaving Trisha with the male servant Yukito left to her. When she turned to her left and saw the guy still in a bow, she cocked an eyebrow.

"You know… she left already… right?" She commented, a hand poised lackadaisically in the air to emphasize her point.

The man straightened and to her surprise, laughed. His voice was jovial and deep and she decided that she liked it.

"You're pretty bold, you know that?" He complemented, or insulted. She couldn't tell so she just smirked and took it as a complement.

"Thanks, I'll take that as a complement." She voiced her thoughts, not feeling a need to be suspicious of him.

"I meant it that way." He easily responded.

"What's your name?" She queried. No one had introduced him.

"Kuroihi." He smiled pleasantly.

"I'm Trisha, but most people can't pronounce that, so you can call me Tiri like the rest if you want." She smiled with a shrug. There was something casual and carefree about his personality that put her at ease.

"I like your actual name. Trisha-san, then?" He asked for clarification.

She shrugged back in response.

"Sure. Is there a park or someplace to go here to just hang out?" She asked.

"Pardon, 'hang out'?" He politely asked, an eyebrow cocked in confusion.

Trisha giggled. He had animated facial expressions, that was for sure.

"I mean to lounge." She clarified.

"Oh! Well yes. Please follow me."

Kuroihi turned and she fell into step beside him. He walked with his hands in his pockets, like any twenty-year-old guy would in the human world. She felt that he was out of place in the demon world.

"What is it like in your world?" He suddenly asked. The question made that out-of-place feeling in her mind grow.

"Blissfully oblivious and peaceful. There's no carnage and the air doesn't smell bad." She responded. "Unless there's war…"

"'Sounds like you have mixed feelings about it." He intuitively responded.

"Well yeah… I mean I grew up there so it's home but it hasn't felt like home in a while. I moved from one country to another and since then I've been running a lot." She smirked at the ground in a begrudging way. She had been running _literally_ and figuratively since she moved. She still wasn't sure if she was grateful or remorseful for that.

"Exercise isn't a bad thing." Kuroihi commented absently and she had to laugh at his matter-of-fact tone accompanied with a nonchalant shrug. It was obvious he knew she was running from a person but chose not to bother her about it; as if he somehow just _knew _she would rather focus on other things.

"You don't look like you belong here." She spoke truthfully, hoping to get to the bottom of why this man intrigued her so much. "You also remind me of someone. I just don't know who…" She frowned at that part, because really, it wasn't his eyes or his hair or even his height it was mostly just his bone structure.

"I do belong here. This is where my people stay and serve." His voice had a more serious tone to it, yet it was still gentle. "And if I remind you of someone you can't place, then maybe that person isn't that important to you."

She felt slightly offended but knew he didn't mean to say that she cared less about some people in her life.  
"You mean to say that that person isn't 'significant' in my life, correct?" She clarified and looked up at him. He was smirking and that smirk was SO, SO achingly familiar!

"Yes that's right. You're very good at reading between the lines, aren't you?" He asked.

"Yeah I kind of have to be." She smiled and looked away to avoid being rude even though she wanted to study every inch of his face and every facet of his facial expressions to think about who he reminded her of.

They were passing through a market, where kitsune subtly stared at them as they passed by. Children played in circles around them, careful not the trip them up with their games. The smell of cooking food and the light drone of music and festivities in the background gave her a sense of relaxation.

"What kind of demon are you?" She eventually asked as they passed by a few festive game stalls.

Kuroihi laughed easily.

"I wonder if you can guess…"

She frowned at the dirt floor. Of course every guy had to turn everything into a psychological game. It was never that easy.

"I'm just joking, don't be so depressed." He had picked up on her emotions right away, almost _freakishly _right away. She looked up at him with bewilderment, even more intrigued than before. He merely smiled at her and she looked away again.

"Are you some kind of empathy demon or something?" She guessed only half-suspiciously.

He snorted and laughed just as they turned the corner to pass through a small residential street.

"No but that was the best guess I've gotten yet." He was grinning from ear-to-ear like the sun itself and she decided he had a nice smile. It was infectious, of course. She had to smile back. "I'm a fire demon, like the rest of us imprisoned in the main castle." He explained, his smile dropping into a neutral, thoughtful expression.

They came upon a beautiful park with a koi fish pond in the center. It must have been three acres in size at least! The lake was deep and round and surrounded by skillfully crafted wooden benches, on which she took a seat. Nearby, separated by a thin wall of shrubbery was a park in which very small kitsune children and what she now assumed to be small fire demon children played together. Their laughter was muted and she was sure she could only hear them ever so slightly because her demonic blood was activated, enhancing her senses a bit.

"You're a fire demon?" She queried, as if she may have heard wrong. A fire demon? Where the hell was Hiei if his race was being enslaved? Or was that not really the case with fire demons? Did all demons stick together like the Southern and Eastern fox clans? Or was it different?

"That _is_ what I said." He sat down next to her, relaxed as could be.

"I know a fire demon." She spoke and suddenly, it hit her! Kuroihi looked subtly similar to Hiei! "That's who you look like!" She exclaimed as she turned to look at his face to match it to Hiei's face in her mind, just to be sure. Kuroihi grinned again.

_Wow… Hiei would be sexy if he smiled more. But that's not really his thing…_

"Maybe he was once a part of our clan." Kuroihi shrugged.

"Waitwaitwait! So demons DO have clans! It's not just the kitsune?"

"No of course not. Some of us can bear to stick together." He stuck his tongue out playfully and she laughed despite the seriousness of her revelations. "For being a 'blood thirsty demon' as I assume most humans would call me, I actually have a loving family." He shrugged easily.

"I would never call you that…" She mumbled. "You look more human than you think. Actually, with your spirit energy suppressed, you're more human-like than you think." She commented. "I don't like that they're doing th—

He clamped a hand over her mouth.

"Shhh. Remember where you are. They have better ears than most." He whispered so lowly only she could hear, but she assumed he was able to understand what she meant. "By the way, I heard from my father that you saved my little sister, Ami-chan. I greatly appreciate it." He gave her a small smile and released his hand from her mouth to let her speak. She dropped her voice really low, like Genkai had taught her.

"Sorry. But it's really messed up that they have you all wrapped up in chains to do what they want you to do…"

Kuroihi smiled at her. It was surprisingly really sexy. What guy smiled in the face of such an ugly fact? It was fascinating.

"It won't matter soon. My mother is an ice maiden. She was not captured along with us, because she was visiting an old friend from her land. My father tells me she will have some friends help free us."

Her brain nearly exploded. One sentence had completely stopped her heart: "My mother is an ice maiden." Like Yukina? Yukina was related to Hiei. She was an ice maiden. Would it be safe to assume that Hiei's mother was an ice demon… that mated with a fire demon to make Hiei and Yukina? If that was the case then… could Kuroihi be something like Hiei's younger brother!?" She stood up abruptly, unable to sit, and began to pace as her mind raced.

"What's wrong? I unnerved you… your eyes are glazing over and you might faint." He whispered in a worried yet still somehow easy-going tone. She stopped in her pacing and looked at him… _really _looked at him. This man was _literally _the polar opposite of Hiei. He was tall, his hair didn't stick straight up, in fact it was messy and long-ish and his eyes were muddy brown-red, nothing like Hiei's piercing rubies. His personality was also completely opposite…But he was dressed in black. And His skin was the same tone. And his face for crying out loud! It was similar to Hiei's! Their eyes were just different, but the nose, even the shape of Kuroihi's hands… they were all so similar to Hiei.

"Tell me about your parents, please. I think I may know a few relatives of yours." That sentence shocked him into silence and he merely watched as she walked over and plopped down on the bench.

"Excuse me?" He whispered quietly.

"Tell me about your parents. Please. Just tell me how they got together and how you came about or if you even know if they might have had any other children…" She pleaded with him and he seemed to suddenly remember something. It was a slight widening of his eyes, as if her words struck a memory somewhere.

"Well… when I was small… mother did tell me about my brother and sister. They always made her so sad…" He murmured, more to himself with a lost look in his eyes, as if he were remembering something so old he could barely remember it at all.

"Start from the top… anything you can remember about their history, Kuroihi, please."

His eyes shifted to hers and he nodded with the first troubled look she had seen on his face all day.

"My father told me he met his mother on a floating island. It was very cold there. He had only ended up there because he was fighting a dragon. It flew higher than the island and as he fought it and slayed it for its precious scales, he fell off, losing the dragon and the scales. Mother found him when he was almost dead and healed him. He said he was immediately violent towards her when he initially awoke, but her gentleness calmed him. He was upset over losing the bounty he was told to catch. He would be hunted and killed if he did not return with the priceless scales by the night. There was no time to find the dragon, if its body and scales were even there when he found it. The sun was already setting. Worried for him, mother cried and gave him beautiful gems that came from her tears. They too were priceless. He left the island and gave the crystals to the man who had employed him to find a priceless treasure. He was not happy that father lost the red scales, but the pearly blue-white crystals were indeed rare, considering that nothing but a dragon could fly at those altitudes and reach the land of the koorime."

Her mind was spinning at this point but she continued to listen to him. So Yukina came from an island in the sky that only dragons could fly up and reach? Amazing… This sounded like a beautiful love story!

"Father said he became obsessed with mother's gentle heart afterwards. He sought more dragons to fly up to the island again and almost died taming one. Eventually he had to steal a dragons egg first and raise the dragon as his own. Once it didn't see him as a threat he managed to fly on it for days until he saw the floating island again. Like the first time, he merely dropped out of the sky and waited inside the ice-hut that mother had made when healing him. He waited for days, hoping the koorime, despite her naturally cold heart, would think of him and return. Eventually she did, finding father starved. So she left and returned with food. They ate and began to know each other for many months during a terrible blizzard. Naturally, it did not bother mother, so often she would leave her village and see father in the woods in their hut. Eventually, father said that mother became pregnant. Because that is illegal there, the baby boy was thrown over the edge of the island to die and the girl was spared. Mother couldn't bear to live in the village that killed her son, so she faked her suicide and left to be with father. Eventually they had me, then Ami. Ami is the one who became curious and asked how they met. That's the only reason why I remember this story." He finished. A pregnant silence fell between them as Trisha absorbed his story.

One thing was certain… she had to cross-examine this information with what Kurama knew of Hiei's story. Regardless of whether this man was related to Hiei or not, Trisha knew she was going to end up freeing him and his little sister anyway.

"Okay… so I think I know your brother. His name is Hiei and he's really surly. Yukina is his sister she's—"

"Yukina!" Kuroihi interrupted in an excited whisper as if that was the name he was trying to remember. "That _is_ my sister's name! Mother was very embarrassed to ever see her. She has not wanted to reveal her existence to Yukina, feeling she has betrayed her in some way. I have not seen mother in over a decade, so I have no update on whether or not they have met yet…" He frowned sadly.

"Oh my God… I have to get you out of here… When were you guys planning this uprising/escape? How soon is 'soon'? I'm human so I don't really have a lot of time to wait before I bust you guys out. I can do my best politically using my influence as a spirit detective and my connections to Koenma but if that doesn't work out… we're going to _need_ some sort of explosion or something…" She was already thinking out the details of a rebellion. What has she become?

Kuroihi chuckled jovially.

"You're the craziest human-demon in existence Trisha-chan! Do you like rebellion?" He queried quietly, his eyes sparkling with mirth. She smiled back at him. He was so happy despite how crappy his situation was!

"I think somewhere deep in my blood, I do. But only for the right reasons." She winked at him.

"Tonight, come to the western-most section of town. There are barracks there where we sleep. My family's barracks are the third ones from the south-western part of the village. You must speak with my father. He will tell you the details."

"Yeah. Yeah I'll do that. I'll try to get Youko and Cevilli to help too." Kuroihi frowned.

"Do you believe they want to free us?" He asked, seriously. She frowned at him. He must have a natural distrust of kitsune by now. He said he was here, away from his mother for over a decade! How cruel! She couldn't really blame him.

"I know Youko and Cevilli don't like the idea that you're enslaved. It goes against their written treaty with the Eastern clan, believe it or not. Actually, I can probably arrest them if I want… even though I'm not supposed to dabble in demon world affairs as spirit detective… Yeah that's not a good idea…But… but Yusuke can…"

"Yusuke? Forgive me, I have no idea who that is." Kuroihi frowned.

"He's my family. Technically. He's like me. We're not actually related by blood, but more by race than anything. We're both partially demon. I can probably ask him for help. I can probably ask your brother to help too… This might work… I just have to convince Youko to make it work with me… There are a lot of things I still don't know about his situation here…" Now she was murmuring more to herself than to him, but he seemed understanding and forgiving of her rudeness, regardless.

"I see… there is a lot for you to consider." He gave her a serious look.

"Yeah. But I'll meet with you dad. It might be late, but I'll still see him. Okay?" She smiled, wanting to reassure him. Somehow, she knew he smiled because inside he was angry or in pain. The strongest people usually had the biggest smiles and Kuroihi was too empathetic to simply be happy out of ignorance. He was happy because it was the best option for him to stay positive.

He grinned again from ear-to-ear and nodded.

"So, now that I know your fascinating sense in fashion, which stores would you like to see, Tiri-san?" He queried expertly just to cover any suspicious ears that may have heard them whispering to each other. She smirked at him, but the half-smile did nothing to calm her nerves. Things were about to get heavily violent here. She thought she was just going to be here for show more than anything. She assumed that her ability to defend herself and survive was just for a worst-case-scenario kind of thing. She was horrifically wrong, as usual.

They stood up to walk back to the market.

Numbly, she followed Kuroihi, letting him lead the way as she went over things in her mind. Kuroihi had his easy-going smile on too, but she knew he was bubbling with possibilities and plans and thoughts as well. Their silence was intense, but it was comfortable nonetheless. They had a companionship and a camaraderie that she was thankful for.

Anyway, she might end up standing alone in all of this. Cevilli might not really want to vigilante-free a whole group of fire demons if the only way to do it was war or getting spirit world involved. Trisha might even have to stand in her own political party. By herself: the only person of somewhat power defending these poor people. Yusuke, Youko, and Hiei might just not want to help her. Also, if Yukito didn't like what she had to say and she had nothing to offer in return for the freedom of the fire demons in a negotiation… she was screwed. He could kill her on the spot, especially if she chose to stand alone, not as a part of any other clan but her own.

She needed to speak to Youko and Cevilli. Together. She needed to know what to do. More importantly, she needed Genkai. Genkai always knew what to do. She bit her lip. She just wanted a hug. She just wanted to be little again and have her dad hug her when she fell. How did her life get so dangerous and complicated? How did she think she could handle these kind of responsibilities? It was ridiculous!

A strong, warm hand was on her shoulder suddenly, snapping her out of her thoughts. She looked up at Kuroihi and felt a stray, frustrated tear slide down her cheek. He smiled at her and she felt foolish for crying like a baby… _again. _She wiped the tear away, and nodded subtly, determinedly at him. She had to be the strong one now… He was about as helpless and powerless as Masaya.

-X-

DUN DUN DUN! Did you guys see this coming!? No!? Haha well leave me reviews and let me know what you think! I hope you guys like Kuroihi. I tried to make him as sexy as possible. Mental eye-candy haha! Tell me what you think about the gathering and how you think it's going to turn out!

I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. All rights reserved to Yoshiro Togashi.

See ya later Space Cowboy!


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